Cops and Writers
by jrhcomet
Summary: Lucy Heartfilia, accomplished author, is in for the ride of her life when she teams up with Detective Natsu Dragneel to solve cases around Magnolia. (Castle with Fairy Tail) Please review, this is my first fanfic and tips are always welcome! I do not own Fairy Tail! Only this plot is mine.
1. Chapter 1

Lucy Heartfilia smiled at the woman as she handed her the signed book.

"Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome! Who's next?"

The next fan stepped up, the smile on her face unnaturally wide.

"Who should I make it out to?" Lucy asked, pen at the ready.

"Oh! Melanie."

"Alrighty. There you go, Melanie! Have a nice day!"

Melanie waved and giggled as she walk away, clutching her new favorite item to her chest.

"What's wrong, Lu?"

Lucy looked up at her manager in surprise. "Nothing is wrong, Levy."

Levy McGarden, who had been Lucy's best friend for nearly 10 years, raised an eyebrow. "Uh huh."

Lucy sighed in defeat. "It's nothing, really. I just wish something new would happen. I don't have any inspiration for my next book."

"Miss Heartfilia?"

Lucy looked up to see a handsome, pink haired man around her age, meaning 22, standing in front of her. Behind him were two men in police uniforms.

"Yes?"

"My name is Natsu Dragneel. I'm a detective with the Magnolia Police Department. I have a few questions for you regarding a homicide case I'm working."

Levy coughed and leaned over to whisper to Lucy. "That's new."

Lucy scowled at her and then turned to smile at the detective. "Of course. But can it wait until I'm done with the signing? It shouldn't take long."

Detective Dragneel nodded and stepped to the side, his officer friends doing the same.

Lucy finished the signing with excitement running through her veins. When the last fan had turned their back to her, she looked to the detective and motioned for him to sit in the seat beside her.

"Now, how can I help you gentlemen?"

"I need to know where you were between the hours of ten and midnight last night."

"You said this was about a murder, right?" Lucy questioned.

"That's correct." Detective Dragneel seemed a little annoyed that she had avoided the question.

"Sorry. I was at home all night, with my little sister Michelle. We watched a movie and played some games, then went to bed."

Dragneel was scribbling her alibi into his pocket notebook. When he was done he pulled a photo out of a file Lucy hadn't noticed he was carrying.

"Do you recognize this woman?"

He set the photo in front of her and she looked at it, only to immediately look away. The woman's body was covered in blood from what looked to be a series of gashes across her chest. Her eyes were open and staring into nothing, blank and lifeless.

"No. I don't know her." Lucy looked at the photo again, but this time something stood out to her.

"But you do recognize something in the photo, yes?" Dragneel prompted, noticing the change to her expression.

Lucy nodded. "This is what I wrote in my third book. This is the same style of...you know."

"Yes, indeed. Well, Miss Heartfilia, it would seem you have quite the admirer."

Levy took a step forward and placed a hand on Lucy's shoulder. "You don't think Lucy is in any trouble, do you?"

"I'm not sure why she would be, miss." Dragneel looked confused.

"Well, normally, people who have a fixation with someone else tend to...introduce themselves sooner or later. If this is from Lucy's third book, I assume there are similar appearances of her first and second. Meaning an incredible fixation, and a danger to Lucy."

Dragneel stared at Levy, then looked back at one of the officers and motioned him forward. "Droy, call the chief and tell him what this woman just told us. See what he wants to do."

Droy nodded and walked away, pulling out his phone.

Dragneel looked back at Levy. "And your name is?"

"I'm Levy McGarden. I'm Lucy's manager. And best friend."

Dragneel nodded, writing down the new information. "And where were you between the hours of ten and midnight last night?"

"I was at home with my step-sister, Juvia Lockser. She was ranting about some guy she met. I didn't really pay attention."

"Okay. I think that's everything. If you-"

The detective was interrupted when Droy came running back into the room.

"Sir, there's been another one. Chief said to bring her with us so she can identify the murder as one of her books."

Dragneel groaned. "He can't be serious."

"I'm more than happy to come, Detective. If you think it will help the investigation." Lucy stood up and grabbed her coat from the back of her chair.

"It will. I just don't like bringing civilians to an active crime scene. They normally mess things up."

"I'll do my best not to." Lucy said. "Levy, you head back home. I'll catch a cab."

"Alright Lucy. Call me."

Lucy waved as Levy walked away, then turned back to the detective standing in front of her.

"Ready?"


	2. Chapter 2

When they arrived on scene, the lights and bustle of the cars and officers caught Lucy off guard.

"You're afraid I'll mess something up? Things look messy already."

Dragneel scowled and led her to the front door of the forest green ranch house that was the center of attention. He followed instructions given to him by Droy to reach the body at the back of the house. Before he crossed the threshold into the bedroom, he turned around and caught Lucy by her shoulder.

"If you need to leave, do it. I don't want puke at my crime scene."

Lucy nodded and silently followed him in. She was instantly hit by the metallic smell of blood, and lots of it. In the middle of what looked to be a thoroughly trashed room lay a young man's body. He was spread eagle, with blood pooled around him. As Lucy got closer, she began to recognize parts of her book.

"That flower, the black rose, that's in my book. The cuts across his chest are too. And the positioning. And setting. It's all the same."

Dragneel humphed.

"Figured it would be."

Unable to continue looking at the bloody mess, Lucy scurried from the room and out of the house, Dragneel following quickly behind her. When she burst out of the front door, she walked as quickly as she could before Dragneel grabbed her arm.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine. I'd like to go home now, if that's alright."

"Of course. Max!" He waved over an officer and gestured to Lucy. "Drive Miss Heartfilia home. Make sures she gets inside before you leave."

"Yes, sir. Right this way, Miss."

Natsu watched them walk away before turning and heading back inside. When he got back to the body he turned to the medical examiner.

"What do you have for me, Jellal?"

"Just the obvious, so far. Cause of death is exsanguination, most likely caused by the cuts to his chest. He's about 30 years old, 6 feet tall, and 250 pounds. Time of death is around six o'clock this morning, which rules out your writer friend."

"Why is that?"

"She had a book signing all morning, didn't she?"

Natsu groaned. "Great. There goes my prime suspect."

"You didn't actually think it was her, did you? She couldn't have won a fight against this guy. She was barely 5' 5" and at most a buck thirty. This guy would have beat her to a pulp before she got anywhere near him with a knife."

"I knew she didn't do it as soon as I saw her. I was just following the evidence. What else do you have?"

"Well, speaking of the knife, it's the same as the others. Serrated edge and extremely sharp. The person who did this is right handed, judging by the direction of the cuts. They are also shorter than our victim here by at least 4 inches."

"How can you tell?" Natsu crouched down next to the body, examining the wounds.

"They get deeper as they go down, meaning our assailant was able to push harder as they got closer to their own height."

Natsu nodded in understanding. He was about to ask Jellal for anything else when his phone began to ring in his pocket.

"Thanks Jellal." Natsu stood up and began leaving the room.

"Sure."

"Hello?"

" _Dragneel, I want you to get to Lucy Heartfilia's apartment and act as protection."_

"May I ask why?"

" _I think her manager had some good points regarding our perps' fixation. Get over there. Now."_

"Sure thing, Chief."

* * *

 _And I've been to the year 3000_

 _Not much has changed_

 _But they live underwater_

 _And your great-great-great-granddaughter_

 _Is doing fine_

Lucy danced around her kitchen as she prepared her dinner. She set the table and took her food to sit down. Just as she was about to dig in, someone began pounding on her door. She looked up, annoyed at having been interrupted. When the pounding didn't stop, she stood up angrily and stomped to the door.

"What?! Oh! Detective! What are you doing here?" Lucy was surprised to see the pink haired police officer at her door.

"Chief told me to come protect you. Said that your friend had some good points about psychos."

Natsu brushed past Lucy and looked around her apartment, seemingly checking for unwanted visitors.

"You came by yourself?" Lucy shut and locked the door, turning to face the detective.

"Of course not. I've got other officers stationed down the hall and in the lobby. I'm here to make sure there isn't already someone in here."

Lucy nodded in understanding and went to sit back down at her small breakfast table.

"So," she began when the detective had sat down next to her, "what do you plan to do if someone does come in here?"

He snorted and squinted his eyes at her. "Whatever is necessary to protect you. That's my job."

Lucy hummed in agreement and began to eat her food.

When she was finished, she stood up to take her plate to the sink. She was interrupted, however, when a shout came from outside the door that sounded like a warning. Not two seconds later, the glass door to her balcony, two feet from where she was standing, shattered. Shocked, her grip on the plate slackened and it fell to the floor, shattering as well. Lucy could hear Detective Dragneel shouting at the intruder.

Lucy whirled around to face whoever had broken in, but she was stopped when a hand roughly gripped her arm and pulled her back against a chest. She nearly stopped breathing when she felt the cold steel of a knife settling on her throat. The intruder's other arm came around her shoulders, holding her firmly in place.

Lucy's eyes found Dragneel's. His were as hard and cold as the steel against her throat. He had his pistol drawn and was aiming at the man holding her hostage.

"Let her go!" Dragneel shouted.

"She's mine! You can't have her!"

The knife pressed a little harder as the attacker became frustrated with his plan going awry.

"Alright, alright. Calm down. You don't want to hurt her, do you?" Dragneel said, putting his hands in the air.

Lucy could feel the man shake his head hesitantly, the knife slackening slightly.

"Good, good. What's your name?"

"I ain't talking to you. I just want Lucy. We belong together."

"This isn't the way to do that. You've scared her, see? You didn't want to scare her, did you?"

"I did all of it for her. I made it just like her books. I knew she would like that. Those people didn't like her writing. Told me it was terrible. Well, I showed them."

"She never wanted any of that. She doesn't even remember you."

The man took in a shaky breath, pulling away from Lucy just an inch. She took her chance, elbowing him in the gut and then wrenching herself from his grip. She rushed into her kitchen and grabbed the pan from the sink when she heard footsteps clomping behind her.

Swinging her body and her arm, she whacked her attacker across the face with the pan, watching him drop to the floor, clutching his face. The pan fell from her limp hands and clattered against the tile. The man stood up angrily, pulling his knife back out. He took one step forward before a loud bang resounded throughout the apartment.

The man jerked backward, staggering and gasping. He looked down at the blood spreading across his chest and then at the detective, whose gun was still trained on him and smoking. Another bang and the man fell to the floor for a second time. He did not get back up.

Lucy stood stock still in her kitchen, staring at the man on her floor. Detective Dragneel cautiously approached the man's body and put his fingers on the man's neck, checking for a pulse. He looked to the other officers, who must have entered upon hearing the gunshot, and shook his head. He holstered his weapon and walked toward Lucy.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Lucy didn't answer. She just kept staring at the man. His maroon hair was spiked high and his originally white shirt was stained red.

"Lucy!"

She started and shifted her focus to the detective.

"Yes. I'm alright. I'm alright."

Dragneel sighed in relief, removing his hands from her shoulders.

"I need to take you down to the station so we can fill out some paperwork."

Lucy only nodded and followed him from her apartment.


	3. Chapter 3

_One week later_

"Dragneel! Get your ass in here!"

Natsu groaned and then scowled at his partner, Gray Fullbuster, who had snickered.

"What did you do this time, Flame Brain?"

"Shut up, Popsicle."

Natsu stood up from his desk and trudged into Chief Makarov's office. He was surprised to see Lucy Heartfilia sitting in one of the chairs in front of Makarov's desk, legs crossed and smiling.

"What's up, Chief?"

"It would seem Miss Heartfilia here has found the inspiration for her new book in you, Detective."

Natsu's brow furrowed in confusion. "I don't understand, sir."

Makarov sighed. "Miss Heartfilia will be tagging along with you on your investigations during the time it takes her to write her book. She has already signed the personal safety waiver and she understands the risks. Here's your next assignment. Take her with you when you go places."

Natsu accepted the file he was given, his frown becoming more prominent than ever.

"Sir, I don't think that this is a good idea."

"Too bad, Dragneel. The commissioner is good friends with Lucy here, and has already approved. Like it or not, Lucy is here to stay."

At this, Lucy stood up and turned to face Natsu. Her smile had grown considerably and she stuck out her hand for Natsu to shake.

"I look forward to working with you, Detective."

Natsu snorted and then left the office, retreating to his desk. Lucy followed quickly after.

"So, what did Gramps want?" Gray asked, not noticing the blonde author behind Natsu.

"Apparently, I'm inspiration for Miss Heartfilia's new book."

Lucy popped out and waved to Gray.

"Hi! I'm Lucy Heartfilia. You can call me Lucy. It's nice to meet you!"

"Detective Gray Fullbuster. Gray is fine," he replied, shaking her outstretched hand.

"Are you Detective Dragneel's partner?"

Natsu snorted again. "You might as well call me Natsu with how much time we're going to be spending with each other. And yes, Ice Princess is unfortunately my partner."

Gray smacked Natsu in the back of the head and then returned to his desk, which was right in front of Natsu's. Lucy smiled.

"What's the case?"

Natsu turned to Lucy and raised an eyebrow. She rolled her eyes and pointed to the file the chief had given him.

"The case? What is it?

"Oh. Right. Let's see." Natsu opened the file and immediately scowled.

"Murder?" Gray guessed. He knew Natsu's facial expressions and the one he had now displayed disgust and anger. Natsu showed that face when some scumbag had decided to take a life.

"Yeah. Let's go catch this bastard."

Five minutes later, Lucy and Natsu were in his black Challenger, heading to the scene.

"Who's the victim?"

"Melanie Adams. She was 19 years old. Her neighbor found her two hours ago. She was shot in the back of the head, execution style. We'll know more when I can talk to Jellal."

"Who's Jellal?" Lucy asked, trying to remember if she had heard the name before.

"Our medical examiner. He was the blue haired man at the first scene you went to."

"I don't remember him. Then again, I wasn't really paying attention to the other people in the room."

"You should work on that. Could save your life one day."

Natsu pulled his car into an apartment complex parking lot, where there were already flashing lights and people milling around. After putting the car in park, Natsu climbed out, quickly followed by Lucy. Together, they walked towards the area of the parking lot that was sealed off by tape.

When they arrived, Natsu turned to a tall man with blue hair and a red tattoo on his face, who Lucy assumed was Jellal.

"What's up, Fernandez?" Natsu said in greeting.

"Hey Natsu. Oh, Miss Heartfilia." Jellal stood up and gave Lucy a curious look.

"Lucy is fine. I'm tagging along on Natsu's investigations as inspiration for my next book." Lucy explained.

"I see. I'm Jellal Fernandez. You may call me Jellal. Pleasure to meet you. I would shake your hand, but I believe you wish to remain blood free." Jellal held up his gloved and bloodied hands.

Lucy grimaced. "Yes. I would."

"Anyway, enough with that. The victim wasn't killed here."

Natsu looked around the scene, noting the lack of blood spatter that would result from a gunshot.

"I see."

Lucy looked at the girl who was lying face up on the asphalt. She gasped.

"I recognize her!"

Natsu turned to Lucy, confusion muddling his features. "What?"

"She was at my book signing a week ago. The poor girl, she seemed so sweet."

Natsu looked back at the body. Then he turned back to Jellal. "Anything else?"

Jellal shook his head. "No. I'll know more about our vic when I get her back to the morgue."

Natsu nodded and then turned to a brown haired woman who was making her way over. The way she stumbled every now and then gave the impression that she wasn't entirely sober.

"Cana, what have you been told about drinking when you're on the clock?"

Cana scoffed and came to a halt in front of Natsu. "I'll do what I want." She turned to Lucy and grinned. "Cana Alberona. Call me Cana. You're Lucy Heartfilia. Love your books."

Lucy smiled. "Thank you."

Natsu rolled his eyes. "What can you tell me, Cana?"

Cana scowled. "Jack shit and it's pissing me off. There is no forensic evidence anywhere. Not even a piece of trash. This area of the parking lot is too damn clean. It's driving me crazy."

Lucy looked around her. Cana was right. There was nothing to be seen. In fact, the asphalt shimmered. That made Lucy pause. An apartment super wouldn't take the time to clean the asphalt. But someone had. Why?

"It's been cleaned," Lucy said.

Cana turned to her. "Well yeah. Didn't you hear me? No trash anywhere."

Lucy shook her head. "That's not what I meant. Not picked up, cleaned. Look," Lucy pointed to the crime scene, "it's shimmering. Which means the asphalt itself was cleaned. Like there was something on it that the killer wanted gone."

This got the attention of the police officers around her. They both looked back to the scene.

"Holy shit. You're right," Natsu said in disbelief.

"Of course I am. You're the one who told me to be more observant."

Cana snickered and then ran over to her forensics team, ordering them to scrape up pieces of asphalt.

Natsu turned to Lucy. "Good catch. Wonder what was there that isn't now."

"You know, by cleaning it, the killer actually brought more attention to it than he would have leaving it dirty. Putting Melanie's body in the middle of it gave it away."

"Maybe that's the point. Maybe the killer cleaned it for her."

Lucy shrugged. "He's a sicko either way."

Natsu grinned. "Ain't that the truth."


	4. Chapter 4

Later that day, when Lucy was relaxing in her apartment, she got a call from her best friend.

" _So, how is it going?_ "

"It's fine, Levy. You never really think about the awful things people can do until you see them in person." Lucy sighed and took a sip of her tea.

" _Yeah. Are you guys working a case?_ " Levy sounded genuinely interested, something Lucy still had to get used to after growing up with her father's indifference.

"Yeah. A girl named Melanie Adams was murdered. She was at the book signing."

" _Oh! I remember her! She walked away with your book like she was going to put it on an altar and worship it._ " Levy chuckled.

Lucy smiled. Levy always seemed to know what to say when Lucy was feeling down.

"She was very excited. Those are the fans I really love. Excited but not over the top."

" _I know you do, Lu. Listen, I gotta get going. Juvia is getting home late from the aquarium and I told her I would make her some dinner._ "

"Alright. I love you Lev! Goodnight!"

" _Love you too, Lu. Night!_ "

Lucy put her phone down on the coffee table and sighed. She tried to go over the details about the crime scene that might be important to finding the killer. Why clean the asphalt? It didn't make any sense. Anything left there by a car could have easily been left by any car. Maybe Natus was right and the killer cleaned it for Melanie. It made Lucy shiver just thinking about it. Perhaps whatever the killer used to do the cleaning would give them a clue.

Lucy sighed again. It was too late at night to be thinking about this. Standing up, Lucy headed into her room, collapsing on her bed after placing her cup on her nightstand. Hopefully a good night's rest would be of more use than thinking.

* * *

Lucy was awakened the next morning by banging, clanging and cursing. Upon recognizing the voice, Lucy sighed.

"Michelle, stop trying to make breakfast! You'll ruin my kitchen!"

Her only response was a startled shriek and then a resounding clang.

Lucy chuckled to herself as she climbed out of her comfortable bed. Her little sister was the clumsiest human on the planet. She was also the luckiest, however, because despite all her mishaps, Michelle never got hurt.

As Lucy walked into the kitchen, she was relieved to see that Michelle had not succeeded in actually mixing anything together. The only thing on Lucy's counters were her pots and pans, some of which Lucy knew had been at the very back of her cabinets.

Michelle's head popped up from the other side of the island. "Lucy! Good morning!"

Lucy couldn't help but smile at her sister's chipper attitude. "Good morning, Goof."

The nickname had been something Lucy had called Michelle since Michelle could walk. Michelle was always tripping over her own feet, reminding Lucy of Goofy the Disney character, with his two left feet. Since then, Lucy had always called her little sister Goof.

Michelle pouted. "I wanted to make you breakfast in bed before you go save the world."

Lucy laughed. "I am certainly not saving the world. Just helping the police catch bad guys. And besides, you couldn't cook to save your life. That's why it's a good thing you have Josh."

Josh was Michelle's fiance. They had started dating their senior year of highschool, but he had just proposed last year, on Michelle's 20th birthday. Lucy was beyond excited for the wedding, but her sister had yet to even pick a date.

Michelle smiled. "And I'm damn lucky. Anyway, I really did want to see you before you went to the station."

Lucy struck a pose. "Well, you're looking at me right now."

Michelle tried to keep it in, but failed and doubled over in laughter. Lucy smiled a little wider. She loved seeing her loved ones smile. However, when Lucy got a look at the clock, she blanched.

"Shit! I have to be at the station in 15 minutes!" Lucy shouted as she turned to run back to her room and throw on some clothes.

When she ran back out, she was met with Michelle holding two to-go coffee cups.

"One for you, one for that detective fellow you're partnered with. They're both black, since you're a weirdo and I don't know what he likes."

Lucy sighed in relief and gave Michelle a grateful smile and a kiss on the cheek. "You're the best. I'll see you later. You and Josh should come over for dinner!"

With that, Lucy dashed out the door.

* * *

Luckily, Lucy arrived at the station two minutes before 7:30, when she had promised to be there. She walked in, immediately spotting Natsu at his desk and making a beeline towards him.

"Good morning, Natsu!" Lucy chirped as she set his coffee in front of him.

He eyed it carefully. "What is that?"

Lucy made a face at him. "Coffee? My sister made it for you this morning. I think it's her way of saying thank you for protecting me."

Natsu looked at Lucy then back at the coffee. "What's in it?"

"She told me it was black. She doesn't kno-"

Before she could finish, Natsu had picked up the cup and taken a big gulp. He pulled the cup away from his lips and sighed contentedly. "Good stuff."

Lucy shrugged. "It's the only thing she can make without the threat of the house burning down."

Natsu chuckled and then looked back at Lucy. "Good morning to you too, by the way. Thanks for the coffee. I needed that."

Lucy beamed and then hopped up to sit on top of Natsu's desk. "So, any progress with the case?"

Natsu nodded and pointed at the open file in front of him. "Turns out that she has a boyfriend. She lives with him, but he's not listed on the lease. The parking spot we found her in is reserved for him, because he's some big wig's son. I think that's why it was cleaned. To keep him from being linked to her."

Lucy scoffed. "Idiot. What's his name?"

"Hugh Parks."

"Sounds like a jackass."

Natsu smiled at her. "Probably. His dad is the CEO of Parks Railways."

Lucy's mouth fell open. She recognized that name as one of her father's business partners. "You're kidding."

Natsu furrowed his brow at her. "No. Why? Is this another thing about this case that you know?"

"Actually, yeah. Jonathan Parks is one of my dad's business partners. He used to come to my dad's mansion for dinner sometimes."

"I'm sorry, did you just say mansion?" Gray asked as he sat down at his desk.

Lucy nodded and scowled. "Yes. My father is Jude Heartfilia, owner of the Heartfilia Corporation. But I don't want to talk about that. I hate him."

"Okay, okay." Gray put his hands up in surrender. "You were saying?"

"Right. I can get you in to talk to Mr. Parks about Hugh without any hassle."

Natsu sat forward. "You can?"

Lucy nodded. "Just let me make a call."


	5. Chapter 5

Half an hour later, Lucy, Natsu, and Gray were sitting in the waiting room outside of Jonathan Parks' office.

"So, what's our theory on what happened?" Lucy asked, feeling impatient.

"We think it might have been Hugh Parks. Maybe he got angry and shot her or it was an accidental discharge. Either way, he's worth questioning." Gray responded, not looking up from messing with his phone. He looked like he was sending someone a text.

"Who're you texting, Gray?" Lucy asked teasingly.

That got Gray to look up. He hurriedly shut off his phone and shoved it into his pocket. "No one."

Lucy deadpanned. "Alright, I'm not a cop, and I know that was a bunch of bullshit."

Natsu snorted in laughter.

Their teasing was interrupted when the door to the office opened and Jonathan Parks strolled out. He was handsome for a 45 year old, with salt and pepper hair and a clean shaven face. He stood at about 5 feet 10 inches, his shoulders wide and his body muscular. He smiled as soon as he saw Lucy standing to greet him.

"Well, I must be dreaming. I never thought I would see the day when Miss Lucy Heartfilia was in my office. How are you, my dear?"

Lucy smiled politely, though Natsu and Gray could tell that she was slightly uncomfortable. "I'm well, Mr. Parks. Unfortunately, this isn't a social call. These are Detectives Dragneel and Fullbuster with the Magnolia Police Department. They need to ask you a few questions."

Jonathan's smile had dimmed as soon as the men with Lucy were introduced. "Well, that sounds important. Please, come into my office."

When everyone was situated, Lucy and the detectives standing in front of Jonathan while he sat at his desk, Gray began the questions.

"Mr. Parks, we need to talk to your son, Hugh."

"I can't imagine why. Hugh is a fine young man." He sounded nonchalant, but Lucy took note of how his face tightened upon hearing Hugh's name.

"That may be, but we need to talk to him anyway. It's extremely important. We were hoping that you could tell us where he is. We're having trouble locating him," Natsu chimed in.

"That would be because he's out of town. He's been in Hargeon all week, I'm afraid. What was it you needed to ask him about?"

"Have you ever met his girlfriend, Melanie Adams?" Lucy asked, taking another note of how Jonathan's face tightened further.

"I have. She's a lovely girl, though I think Hugh could do better." His voice came out as something close to venomous. Though, after saying it, Jonathan's face became pale and he stood up abruptly.

"And why is that, Mr. Parks?" Gray questioned, sounding suspicious.

"You know, I'm going to have to ask you all to leave. I have an awful lot of work that needs to be done and it needs to be done today. My apologies."

Jonathan kept rambling about all the work he needed to do as he ushered them out of the office and then shut the door.

Lucy turned to Natsu and Gray. "I'm starting to think we have a different prime suspect."

"I would have to agree with you, Lucy. Let's head back to the station and do some research," Natsu said as he led the way out to the hallway and to the elevator.

* * *

When they walked into the morgue, Lucy immediately winced at the smell of chemicals and the sight of bodies on the tables. Jellal was currently leaned over Melanie's.

"Jellal! Tell me you have some good news!" Natsu called.

Gray had stayed behind at his desk to check on Hugh Parks' whereabouts and dig into Jonathan Parks a little more.

Jellal looks up, nodding at both of them and then looking back to his work. "Interesting news. It's up to you to decide if it's good."

Natsu began making his way over to him, but he stopped when he noticed that Lucy was not following. When he looked back at her, she was pale and looked ready to fall over.

"Luce? You alright?" he asked, concern dripping from his voice.

Lucy started and then focused her attention on him. "I'm...I don't..."

Natsu's gaze softened in understanding. "Why don't you go see what Gray has found? I'll fill you guys in when I come up."

Lucy nodded gratefully and retreated out the door.

Jellal hummed sympathetically. "Poor girl. Not used to seeing the things she writes about. Anyway, I have some interesting findings after doing the autopsy."

"I'm all ears, Doc."

"First, the gunshot to the back of her head did not kill her. She suffocated as a result of strychnine poisoning," Jellal said, gesturing to Melanie's throat.

"Strychnine? Isn't that rat poison?" Natsu asked, furrowing his brows.

"Commercially, yes. But the strychnine used to kill Miss Adams here was medical grade, pure strychnine. She was given such a large dose that she was dead in 30 minutes."

Natsu's face scrunched in thought. "Do you know how it was introduced into her system?"

Jellal pointed a finger into the air. "A marvelous question, Detective. I do indeed."

Natsu rolled his eyes and smiled at Jellal's antics. He followed the doctor to the end of the table, to Melanie's feet. Once there, Jellal pointed to the bottom of her foot where a small area around a hole was redder than the rest.

"The killer injected the strychnine into her foot. Quite clever, actually. I would have missed it if I weren't so thorough."

Natsu snorted at the idea of Jellal being anything but thorough. "Alright. Anything else?"

"Yes." Jellal led Natsu back to Melanie's head. "The gunshot came roughly an hour after she had died of the poisoning. I believe that the killer was attempting to throw the police for a loop. An execution style killing in an empty parking lot is very reminiscent of gang retaliation type stuff. Good thing Miss Heartfilia noticed the oddity that was the cleaned parking space." Jellal looked at Natsu to see him looking rather annoyed. "Not that you fine detectives wouldn't have noticed it eventually," he added, hoping to curb Natsu's annoyance.

Natsu scoffed. "Whatever. Is that everything?"

Jellal nodded. "I'm pretty sure. Everything of importance to the investigation, anyway."

"Alright. Thanks Jellal."

Jellal only nodded, turning to walk to the sink on the far side of the room.


	6. Chapter 6

While Natsu was getting the rundown from Jellal, Lucy was rushing back to Gray's desk. Once there, she let out a breath of relief and dropped into Natsu's chair. Gray looked up from his computer and gave her an amused look.

"Everything alright, Lucy?"

"I hate morgues. I don't ever want to go down there again." Lucy complained.

Gray laughed and reached over to ruffle her hair. "Understandable. Want to see what I found?"

Lucy perked up and nodded enthusiastically. "Yes please."

Gray smirked and scooted his chair over so Lucy could fit behind his desk with him.

"So, Jonathan Parks wasn't lying about his son being in Hargeon. The airport cameras in Hargeon confirm it. So that confirms our new theory about it not being Hugh."

Lucy nodded. "Anything to prove our other new theory about it being Jonathan?"

Gray shrugged. "Maybe. Jonathan does own a gun, a 9mm, just like the one Melanie was shot with."

"And he said that he thought Hugh could do better than Melanie. That's motive, right?" Lucy added.

Gray smiled at her. "I think we can turn you into one hell of a detective, Miss Heartfilia."

Lucy beamed. "Thank you, sir. What else have you found?"

"Mr. Parks has no alibi for the night Melanie was killed. He was seen leaving his office, claiming to be late for something, but the security cameras at his apartment building do not show him entering until the next morning."

"Maybe the something he was late for was something with Melanie? What if he was trying to get her to leave Hugh because he wanted Hugh to find someone he approved of?"

Gray tapped his chin. "That's plausible. When she said no, he got angry and shot her."

"That's all well and good, guys, except the gunshot didn't kill her."

Lucy jumped out of her seat with a shriek and fell to the floor. Her heart racing, she looked up to see Natsu standing behind the chair she had just fallen out of, laughing his ass off. She huffed at him and climbed back into the chair.

"Oh my god! I'm sorry, Luce. Didn't think I would scare you so bad," he wheezed, clutching his stomach.

"Shut up! Start talking!"

Natsu calmed down and wiped a few tears out of his eyes, still chuckling. "Phew. That was fun. Anyway, the gunshot didn't kill her. She was poisoned with strychnine."

Lucy and Gray furrowed their brows.

"Rat poison?" Gray asked.

Lucy was shaking her head before he had finished. "Couldn't be. Not strong enough. The killer would have had to use pure strychnine, medical grade stuff. Hard to get."

Natsu and Gray looked at Lucy with wide eyes.

"I'm starting to think you know too much about how to kill someone, Lucy," Gray said, Natsu nodding in agreement.

Lucy blushed. "I have to do research for my books. It's not like I would ever put my knowledge to use on a person."

Natsu shook his head at her. "Whatever you say," he said, ignoring Lucy's scoff of indignation. "She is right, though. Pretty much exactly what Jellal said. It was injected into the bottom of her foot. She was dead in half an hour."

"Poor girl," Lucy said, a frown on her face.

Natsu nodded. "But, I do agree with the theory about Jonathan being the killer. He was really suspicious when he kicked us out of his office."

Lucy began to rub her chin, looking up as she thought. "Where did Melanie work?"

Natsu looked to Gray. "You've got the file, Stripper."

Gray rolled his eyes and opened the file on his desk. "She was an accountant at-" he paused as he read, his eyes widening. "Holy shit. She was an accountant at Parks Railways. Hugh Parks is the head of the division she was in."

Lucy smiled. "Okay. Well, that might give us motive. What if Melanie was going through the financial records for Parks Railways and noticed a discrepancy. When she dug deeper, she found some sort of money laundering or something. Then, she confronts Jonathan Parks about it and he kills her to cover it up."

Natsu nods along as Lucy talks. "But that begs the question of why he poisoned her."

"Maybe he invited her over to his house with the ruse of making peace about her dating Hugh. Then, he attacks her and injects the strychnine into her foot. Any other type of killing might have been too messy or noisy. The shot to the head was to throw us off," Gray suggested.

Lucy smiled wider and nodded. "Now we just need the proof. Can we get a warrant for Parks Railways' financial records?"

At this, Natsu frowned. "I don't know. Do we have enough for a warrant?"

Gray stood up and smiled. "Maybe not, but I know a good lawyer who could help us with that."

* * *

 **AN: Sorry about the long time between this chapter and the last. I'm on vacation right now, and this place has very spotty Wi-Fi. I'll try to post as often as I can, but I'll be busy with my family too. Thanks for understanding! Keep up the reviews please, they make me very happy! See you later!**


	7. Chapter 7

"Detective Fullbuster, Miss Olietta will see you now," the assistant said, hanging up the phone.

Gray stood up from the chair he was in, gesturing for Natsu and Lucy to stay seated. "She isn't a fan of too many people, unless she's in a courtroom."

When they nodded in understanding and settled back into their chairs, Gray made his way into the office.

The purple haired, glasses wearing woman sitting behind her desk looked up and smiled as he came in. "Gray! How wonderful to see you!"

She stood and made her way around her desk to give Gray a hug in greeting.

"Hey Laki. Been a while."

"It certainly has. What can I do for you?" Laki asked when she was settled back behind her desk.

Gray shoved his hands into his pockets. "I need your help with a case I'm working. We need a warrant for some financial records, but we're not sure if we have enough to get one."

Laki nodded and gestured for him to sit in one of the chairs in front of her desk. "Sit. Tell me what you can. I'll help in any way possible."

* * *

"I have a question for you, Luce. It's kind of personal, so don't feel like you have to answer."

Lucy turned to Natsu and gave him a quizzical look. "Okay. Shoot."

Natsu shifted in his chair so he was facing Lucy. "I was just wondering...why do you hate your dad?"

Lucy's face fell into a scowl. "Because he's a jackass who cares more about his work and his money than his own family. I practically raised Michelle after our mom died of cancer. He just locked himself in his office and didn't give us the time of day."

Natsu nodded. "What does Michelle think about him?"

Lucy's face softened. "I told her a lot of stories growing up about how he was before Mom died. She has this image of him being the perfect father. She knows that he shut us out, but she forgave him. She even works as his secretary now."

Natsu pulled a face. "If she forgave him, why haven't you?"

"Because he never talked to me about it. After I turned eighteen, all he did was try to force me into arranged marriages and business deals. He never once apologized. He hasn't even talked to me since I left home three years ago."

"Huh. You know, your dad gives new meaning to the word jackass."

Lucy smiled and giggled. "I'm sorry for ranting like that. He just makes me so mad."

Natsu shrugged. "You have every reason to rant. I would, except I would probably throw shit, too."

Lucy laughed now. "What about you? Do you have any family?"

Natsu grinned and his eyes brightened. "Yeah! My dad is the best. And I have a little sister who got accepted into med school. She's eighteen. And my mom is pretty awesome."

While the two waited for Gray to finish his meeting, Lucy listened to Natsu go on and on about his parents, Igneel and Grandine, and his adorable sister, Wendy. The more he talked, the more Lucy smiled and laughed.

"You'll have to have dinner with us sometime. They'd love to meet you."

Lucy nodded. "Okay."

Natsu grinned wider. "Wendy is a huge fan of your books, too. She's always asking me about stuff to make sure it's accurate. You do pretty good."

"Well. I do pretty well. Grammar is important, Natsu."

Natsu only shrugged. "Meh. What do I care?"

Lucy was about to retort when the door to the office opened and Gray walked out, followed by a woman who Lucy assumed was Laki Olietta.

"Well, Laki is our savior. She knows a judge who owes her a favor and she's agreed to use that favor under one condition."

Natsu and Lucy stood up.

"What is it?" Natsu asked.

Laki turned to Lucy and smiled shyly. She pulled her hands out from behind her back and revealed a hard copy of Lucy's latest book. "Would you sign this for me?"

* * *

"What are you people doing back here?" Jonathan said irritably, standing up from his desk.

"We need all of your company's financial records," Gray explained, stepping up to the desk.

"For what?"

"Our investigation. We have a warrant," Natsu injected, holding up the paper that granted them access.

Jonathan scowled. "This is ridiculous. What could you possibly find in my records?"

"A reason for an innocent girl to be murdered. Melanie was an accountant here, wasn't she? Which means she had access to all of your financials," Natsu countered.

Jonathan's face became pale. "Just what are you insinuating, Detective?"

Gray grabbed the paper from Natsu's hand and gave it to Jonathan. "I'm afraid we'll need those records right now. If you don't mind. I also think it would be wise for you to stay in town until this investigation is over."

"We'll need to look at Melanie's workspace, too," Natsu added.

Through this all, Lucy was sitting in the waiting room. She had pulled out her phone to pass the time when she heard a familiar voice say her name.

"Lucy."

She looked up and immediately scowled. "Father."

Jude Heartfilia was standing not five feet from where she was sitting, his suit immaculate and briefcase in hand.

"What are you doing here, Lucy?"

"I don't see how that is any of your business, Jude."

Her father frowned at being called by his first name. He was about to reply when Jonathan Parks burst through his office doors, looking furious and terrified all at once.

"This is absolutely absurd! What can you possibly expect to find?!"

Natsu and Gray rushed out of the office as well.

"Sir, you need to calm down."

"Calm down?! You people are trying to ruin my life!"

"We're trying to catch a killer!" Natsu defended.

"I don't see what my company has to do with any of that!"

Gray sighed in irritation and decided enough was enough. "You want to know why? Fine. We think that you are laundering money from your company. We think that, as an accountant, Melanie discovered this and confronted you. You decided that she needed to be silenced to save your company, so you snuck into her apartment while she was asleep and poisoned her with strychnine. Then, to throw off the police, you shot her in the back of the head and left her in an empty parking lot."

The room fell silent, with only Jonathan's labored breathing being heard. Lucy noticed that her father had somehow managed to slip out undetected.

"Mr. Parks, did you kill Melanie Adams?" Natsu asked finally.

Jonathan exploded. "Of course I did! That little bitch would have ruined everything! She was going to turn me in. She was going to tell Hugh. I couldn't let he-"

Having realized what words had come out of his mouth, Jonathan paled and began stuttering. Lucy, Natsu and Gray were stunned.

"Well, that was the easiest confession we've ever gotten," Natsu joked as he pulled his handcuffs out of his belt and pulled Jonathan's hands behind his back. "Mr. Parks, you are under arrest for the murder of Melanie Adams. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you. Do you understand these rights as I have just read them to you?"


	8. Chapter 8

When Lucy got home that night, she wanted to go to sleep right away. She was exhausted after running around and having to deal with the insufferable attorney that Jonathan Parks had hired.

Unfortunately, she was reminded of her dinner plans with her sister when she walked through the door and smelled food cooking.

"Michelle, you better be having Josh cook! I'll kick your ass if you ruin my kitchen!"

Michelle's head popped out from the kitchen doorway. "Relax, sis. Josh is cooking. You're late. Is everything alright?"

Lucy sighed as she dropped her stuff on her couch and walked over to her little sister. When she got there, she leaned her head into Michelle's shoulder, taking comfort in her sister wrapping her arms around her shoulders.

"I don't know. I think I'm still trying to process how someone could kill another person."

Lucy felt Michelle nod and tighten her hug.

"It'll be alright. Some people are just bad people."

Lucy sighed again and leaned back to smile at her sister.

"Good thing you're not. I love you, Michelle."

The grin that exploded on Michelle's face was enough to lift Lucy's spirits.

"Aw! I love you too!"

"I love you three!" came a male voice from the kitchen.

Lucy smiled and poked her head through the doorway. "Thanks Josh. Whatcha making?"

"Spaghetti and meatballs. Nothing too fancy."

He turned around and smiled at her. He was tall, compared to Lucy. He stood at 5' 11'', Lucy being a measly 5' 5''. His dark brown hair and emerald green eyes helped to accentuate his tall, dark, and mysterious looks.

"Are you making your special sauce?"

Josh rolled his eyes and turned back to the pot he was stirring. "What else would I make?"

This brought a grin to Lucy's face. "Yay!"

Spending time with her family was a pretty surefire way for Lucy to cheer up. Though, she couldn't help but wonder if Natsu's family would be the same way.

"So," Michelle began when they were all seated at her table, "do you want to talk about it?"

Lucy sighed. "I'm not sure if I'm allowed to. I need to ask Natsu about the rules."

"This Natsu fellow. Is he the same detective that shot that stalker of yours?" Josh inquired, taking a sip of his water.

Lucy nodded and smiled. "Yeah. He saved my life."

Josh scoffed. "Only after endangering it."

Lucy frowned. "That's not true at all!"

"He pointed a gun at you!"

"He pointed a gun at the man with a knife to my throat. There's a big difference."

The table fell silent. Lucy did not like talking about that night. She had occasional nightmares about the cold steel on her skin, or the way her attacker had pulled her against him.

"I'm sorry, Lucy. I just..." Josh said, looked down at his plate.

"It's alright." Lucy sighed again. "Excuse me, I've lost my appetite."

After her family had left, Lucy had taken a shower and gone straight to bed. She had some trouble falling asleep, and even when she did, it was not peaceful.

" _She's mine! You can't have her!"_

 _BANG_

Lucy jolted awake, gasping and sweating. Her nightmares had never been so vivid before. She felt something land on her hands, which were clutching her sheets, and looked down to see a teardrop. She brought her hand to her face and finally realized that she was crying. Shuddering a breath, she reached for her phone on her nightstand, quickly unlocking it and going to her contacts. She called the only person she could think of to help her with this.

" _Lucy? Why are you calling at three in the morning?_ " came the groggy and sleep laden voice of Detective Dragneel.

"I'm-I'm s-sorry," Lucy gasped.

" _Lucy? Is everything okay? Are you crying?_ " Natsu's voice sounded much more alert than it had.

"I j-just...I c-can't s-sleep."

" _Okay. Calm down. It's alright. Do you want me to come over?_ " Natsu soothed.

"I don't w-want to be a b-bother."

" _Don't be stupid. I'll be there in ten,_ " and then the line clicked.

Lucy put her phone back on the nightstand and stood up. She stumbled into the living room, still crying and gasping, and collapsed onto the couch to wait for Natsu. As promised, she heard a knock ten minutes later.

Upon opening the door, Lucy was met with the bare chest of her partner. It faintly registered that he was well muscled and at least a head taller than her before she felt his arms wrap around her.

"Oh, Luce. What's wrong?" he whispered into her ear, rubbing her back as he closed the door and led her back to the couch.

Apparently, Lucy was more vulnerable than she thought she was, as that question caused her to break into sobs.

He began rocking her back and forth, pulling her into his lap. "It's alright. I'm right here. You're okay."

"I ca-can't get i-it out of my h-head," Lucy whimpered.

"What? What's bothering you?"

"That n-n-ight. W-hen the m-man bro-oke in."

Natsu momentarily paused in his rocking when he realized what she was talking about.

"Lucy, how long have you been having nightmares about that?"

"Since it h-happened," she confessed, burying her face in Natsu's neck.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I...I don't know. We w-were busy wi-with the case. Th-they don't happen e-every night."

Natsu sighed and continued rocking. "Well, I guess I should have expected that. What happened was pretty traumatic."

Lucy stayed silent, finding the constant thud of his heartbeat very soothing.

"Luce, do you want me to stay until you fall asleep?"

Lucy tensed and pulled away from him, shaking her head violently. "I don't want to sleep! He'll come back!"

"Okay, okay. Shh. Calm down. He can't hurt you anymore. He's never coming back. I made sure of that," Natsu soothed her, putting his hands on her cheeks and forcing her to make eye contact with him.

"He does come back! With that knife! And those words!"

Natsu shook his head. "It's just a dream, Lucy. He can't hurt you. I won't let him. But you can't stay up all night. It's not good for you."

Lucy whimpered again. "I don't want to. Please, Natsu. Please don't make me sleep," she begged.

Natsu wavered only slightly. "Lucy, you have to sleep. I need you to sleep."

"Please! Please, Natsu!"

Natsu wavered again, but this time he broke. He sighed and dropped his gaze to his lap. "Alright. We can stay up. But you have to sleep tomorrow. Promise me."

Lucy hesitated before nodding her head. "I promise."

Natsu nodded back and moved his hands to stroke up and down her biceps. "Alright. So, what are we doing tonight?"

"Have we been asked to work on any other cases yet?"

Natsu nodded. "There was a fire by the docks that killed three people. I wanted to go talk to the arson investigators in the morning."

Lucy leaned into Natsu's chest and felt his arms wrap around her. "Are you friends with them?"

Natsu shrugged. "I guess. The lead investigator is a bit of a demon when she's mad, and her lieutenant is an asshole, but they're good people. Every now and then we go to a bar, the entire precinct and the fire department, and get drinks."

When he didn't receive an answer from Lucy, Natsu looked down to see that she had fallen asleep. He chuckled at her and listened to her even breathing for a moment. Then, he adjusted her in his arms and lifted her off the couch with him. He took her to her room and tucked her into bed before returning to the couch and laying down to fall asleep.

* * *

 **AN: Hello! I'm finally back from vacation so I figured I would post the next chapter as a kind of celebration. I'll try to get back on schedule. I'm typing new chapters up and my sister is editing them, because she's awesome. Thank you for being patient! Keep up the reviews! See you later!**


	9. Chapter 9

Natsu awoke the next morning to light taps on his shoulder. He groaned in protest, but sat up on the couch nonetheless. While rubbing his eyes, he looked up at the softly smiling face of Lucy, who was standing beside the couch.

"G'mornin'" he slurred, waving a hand at her sleepily.

"Good morning. Would you like some breakfast before we head to the station?"

Natsu immediately shot to his feet and ran to her kitchen. "Hell yeah!"

Lucy walked after him, giggling.

When she joined him in the kitchen, she saw that he had opened her fridge and was staring at its contents.

"Lucy, we have a problem."

Lucy made eye contact with him as he turned around and furrowed her brows in worry. "What do you mean? What's wrong?"

Natsu's face was completely serious, which only served to make Lucy more worried.

"You have no bacon."

Lucy deadpanned and stared at Natsu blankly. "Seriously? That's the problem?"

"Yes! Bacon is essential to any good breakfast!" Natsu exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air.

Lucy giggled and shook her head at him. "Well, I'm sorry. I haven't been able to go grocery shopping recently, but when I do, I promise I'll get some bacon."

Natsu nodded, satisfied with her answer and then turned back to the fridge. "So, what are we gonna make?"

"We? You know how to cook?" Lucy asked incredulously, coming to stand next to him.

"Of course I do. I live alone, I had to learn. But I'm way better at grilling meat than anything else."

Lucy hummed in understanding and then reached into the fridge to pull out the eggs. "Well, I'm in a scrambled eggs and pancakes mood. What do you think?"

"Sounds good to me."

While they got started on making breakfast together, Lucy couldn't help but glance at him occasionally. For one, he was shirtless and that alone was enough to look at him. He was very muscular and it was easy to tell that he worked out often. But, she was also looking as if to make sure he was still there. She still had trouble processing the fact that he came to her apartment at three in the morning, hours before he even had to be awake, just because she was crying when she called him.

"Lucy?"

Lucy snapped out of her thoughts and turned to look at Natsu, who was suddenly standing right next to her, leaning down to look her in the eye, a concerned look on his face.

"Huh?"

"Are you alright? You spaced out for a second there."

Lucy blushed and waved her hand in front of her face. "Yes, of course, I'm fine. Let's eat."

* * *

After they finished eating, Natsu and Lucy went to the department in Natsu's car to pick up the case file for the fire. When they had done so, Natsu drove them to the fire station to meet with the investigators.

One of the engines was parked in the driveway and in the process of being cleaned. Natsu parked on the curb and led Lucy inside. They walked through the garage to a door.

When they arrived, Natsu turned to Lucy. "She's a bit scary and can be overwhelming sometimes. You've been warned."

With that, Natsu knocked once and, without waiting for a response, walked into the office. Lucy followed after him and was surprised to see no one at the desk. She turned to Natsu and noticed his furrowed brow.

"That's odd. We agreed to meet at 8." Natsu checked his watch. "She should be here."

"She is."

Natsu and Lucy both jumped and spun to face the door. There stood the most formidable looking woman Lucy had ever seen. Shocking red hair to her waist and hands on her hips, Erza Scarlet was staring at them with an interested but demanding expression.

Natsu put his hand over his heart. "Jesus, Erza. You scared the crap out of me."

Erza raised a brow. "Apologies. I wasn't expecting you to be here on time. You're normally ten minutes late."

Natsu pouted. "Nuh-uh."

Lucy giggle and raised a hand. "That would be my doing. I try to keep him punctual. I'm Lucy Heartfilia, by the way. I'm shadowing Natsu for my new book."

Erza smiled at her. "Hello, Miss Heartfilia. My name is Erza Scarlet. I am a fan of your series. I can't wait to read the new one."

"Please, just call me Lucy. We may be seeing a lot of each other." Lucy shook Erza's hand and returned the smile.

"Then Erza will do for me. Now, Natsu, I assume you are here about the fire that claimed three lives." Erza walked around her desk to take a seat.

Natsu nodded and sat in one of the two chairs in front of her, Lucy claiming the other. "Yeah. I just need to know if the fire was accidental or arson. Since you were called in, I'm assuming someone set the place on fire."

Erza nodded grimly. "Indeed. There were traces of an accelerant, though we don't know what yet. The lab is still testing it. Also, the three people, they were not killed accidentally. The room they were in was locked from the outside and there were no windows."

Natsu scowled and Lucy gasped, putting her hand over her mouth.

Erza shuffled through some papers on her desk and then frowned. "I seem to have left the case file in my car. I will return momentarily."

After Erza had left the room, Lucy laced her fingers in her lap and looked at them. She glanced up at Natsu then back down at her hands.

"Hey, Natsu?"

Natsu turned to her, raising a brow at her timidness. "What's up?"

"I just...wanted to thank you. For last night. I really appreciate you...helping me...with everything."

Natsu smiled gently at her. "Of course. Though, I really wish you had told me about those nightmares sooner. I understand why you didn't."

Lucy looked up at him, noticing that his voice had gained a sort of far off sound. He was staring at the wall behind Lucy, his eyes unfocused. Lucy furrowed her brow in concern.

"Natsu, are you okay?"

Natsu shook his head as though clearing it and smiled at her again. "I'll tell you some other time, Luce."

Lucy had just nodded at him when the door to the office opened. Erza walked in, though not alone. She was followed by a man who looked like a pin cushion. He had long black hair and so many piercings, Lucy rethought her view of what is possible.

"Lucy, this is my lieutenant, Gajeel Redfox. Gajeel, this is Lucy Heartfilia. She's shadowing Natsu for her new book." Erza sat down at her desk again, Gajeel standing next to her.

Gajeel nodded to Lucy, who nodded back.

"Now, where were we? Right. The room was completely sealed. However, the fire began outside of it. Which is strange to me," Erza explained, looking to the others in the room for input.

Surprisingly for Erza, Lucy was the one who responded. "Well, it makes sense if the killers goal was to scare them. Lock them in a room with no way out and start a fire. They see smoke coming in and feel the knob get hot. It would be terrifying to know you were going to burn to death and there is nothing you can do."

Erza and Gajeel looked to Lucy with shock written on their faces.

Natsu chuckled. "She does research for her books. She knows how psychos think, just like we do. Though, this is only her second real world application."

Lucy made a noise of disagreement and turned to Natsu indignantly. "Third if you count the stalker."

Natsu scoffed. "You can't count him."

"Why not?"

"Because, _you_ weren't trying to get inside his head, _I_ was. _You_ were trying to stay alive."

"That counts as application!"

"No it doesn't! We're talking about how psychos _think_ , not trying not to die! There's a difference!"

Lucy contemplated this and shrugged. "I guess you're right. Anyway, the locked room thing makes sense to me."

When the two turned back to the arson investigators, they were surprised to see both looking at them with amusement written on their faces.

"Are you two done bickering like married couple?" Gajeel grumbled, smirking when Natsu and Lucy's face erupted in a fierce blush.

"Shut it, metal face. Come on, Lucy. Let's go check out the crime scene. I'll tell Gray to meet us there." Natsu stood up and opened the door for Lucy to go by.

Before she left, Lucy gave Erza and Gajeel a smile and thanked them for their help. Then she walked past Natsu and led the way to his car.


	10. Chapter 10

Lucy never visited the docks. She had no reason to. Her job was downtown and most of their investigating had taken her in the opposite direction from the river. She had no idea that there were so many warehouses lining the river bed.

"So, do we know who was killed?" Lucy turned in the passenger seat to face Natsu.

Natsu shook his head. "The bodies were too badly burnt to recognize. Jellal has probably already sent Cana a DNA sample. We just need to hope that these guys are in our database."

Lucy's face had lost most of its color when Natsu mentioned the burning. "I forgot they were burned."

Natsu gave her an incredulous look. "Really? Even after we talked to firefighters and you had your brilliant moment of creepy knowledge about psychos?"

Lucy reached over and smacked his bicep. Natsu only snickered at her.

"Yes. I just...I don't understand how you do this every day."

Natsu furrowed his brow in confusion. "Do what?"

"Deal with people doing such terrible things. How do you get through the day knowing that such evil exists?" Lucy was wringing her hands in her lap, slightly nervous about asking the question.

"I do it because of people like Hugh Parks." Natsu stared straight at the road, his mouth set in a straight line.

Now it was Lucy's turn to be confused. "Hugh Parks? I don't understand. Nothing happened to him."

Natsu raised a brow at her and shook his head. "But something did happen to him. He lost his girlfriend. His father killed her. Hugh Parks loved her and now she's gone. I do this job for people like him. The people who lose their loved ones for no reason. The people who don't have the power to find the person who took everything from them and punish them for it. I do this for them."

Lucy's eyes were wide as she watched him. She noticed his knuckles were white from how tight he was gripping the wheel. He had begun to scowl as well.

"Natsu? Are you alright?" Lucy reached over to him and placed a soothing hand on his arm.

She watched as he visibly relaxed. He let out a breath and gave her a small smile.

"I'm fine. I...I know what's it's like to feel that powerless. But that's a story for another time. We're here."

Lucy turned away from Natsu, though she left her hand in place, and looked out the window. She immediately spotted the crime scene. It wasn't very difficult given that it was the only building that had been reduced to rubble and ash.

Natsu parked right in front of the warehouse and made to get out of the car. Lucy tightened her grip on his arm to stop him. He turned and looked at her questioningly. She kept her gaze on her other hand in her lap.

"You're really amazing, Natsu. I just wanted you to know that."

Natsu's mouth dropped open in shock. "Why do you say that?"

Now Lucy looked up into his eyes. "Because, you care so much for other people. You try your hardest to bring justice to everyone. And you are so brave and kind to do it. That's why."

Natsu simply stared at her for a good minute. Then, he gave her the most dazzling smile she had ever seen. For a moment, it took her breath away.

"Thanks, Luce. You're pretty amazing, too. Now, let's go check out this scene."

Lucy followed him into the ruins of the warehouse. When she looked around her to take in her surroundings, she saw Gray kneeling down and investigating something in the ash.

"Gray!" Lucy smiled and waved at him.

Gray looked up from whatever he had found and smiled back. "Hey guys! I was wondering where you were. You took forever."

Natsu scowled at him. "Whatever. What are you looking at?"

Gray smirked, always happy to piss Natsu off. "The accelerant. Macao says that whatever it was burned quick and hot. Our vics didn't stand a chance."

Lucy tilted her head. "Who's Macao? Is he a fireman?"

Natsu smiled at her. "Yeah. He's the fire chief. Ice Butt and I have known him since we were kids."

Gray scowled at Natsu for the nickname but nodded in agreement anyway. Lucy giggled at them.

"Okay. So, what are we looking for?"

Natsu sighed. "I'm not sure. I mean, there isn't really much we'll be able to find. The arson investigators go over the whole building when they look for how the fire started. I don't know what else we'll be able to find."

"Hmm. Maybe we should go back to the lab. I bet Jellal and Cana will have something for us," Lucy suggested.

Gray laughed at her. "You hear that, Natsu? She's practically on the force already."

Lucy turned bright red while Natsu laughed at her.

"Come on, Luce. You're right, those two have probably solved the case by now. You need a ride, Ice Face?"

Gray waved them off. "Nah. I drove myself. You two go ahead. I'm going to look around little bit more."

Natsu shrugged and then led Lucy back to the car.

* * *

Miles away, in an extravagant office where the only light was a single lamp on the desk, a more sinister meeting was taking place.

"We did what you hired us to do. What do you want now?" said a man with long black and white hair. There was a white braid hanging next to his face, which was as impassive as ever.

"I beg to differ, Midnight. I hired you to start a war. All you have done is start a fire." The voice came from a man sitting in the chair behind the desk. Midnight could see nothing of him but a shadow of his elbows on the armrests and his fingers pressed together above his lap.

"That fire is what will start the war. Angel burned three of Zentopia's members in the flames. Lapointe will demand that the Archbishop get revenge."

Midnight heard the man in the chair shift. "And if you are wrong?"

Now Midnight's impassive face let out a smile. "We left a calling card. Zentopia will know exactly who did it and will have no choice but to come after us."

The man in the chair leaned forward into the light. His dirty blonde hair was slicked back and his mustache was impeccable. He wore an expensive brown suit and exuded authority.

"Why?"

Midnight sneered. "Because the Oracion Seis doesn't stop until our victims pray for mercy."


	11. Chapter 11

"Hey Jellal! Whatcha got for me?" Natsu asked as he strode into the morgue.

Jellal looked up from the burnt body on the table. "I have facts for you. Where is Lucy?"

Natsu scrunched his face. "You saw how she reacted when it was Melanie. You really think she would be able to handle these guys?" He gestured to the three bodies.

Jellal nodded sagely. "A wise course of action. Where did you send her?"

Natsu grinned. "I sent her up to Cana. I figured you had already sent some DNA to the lab."

Jellal nodded again and then motioned for Natsu to come closer. "I did. Anyway, I have some interesting findings for you."

Natsu walked over to stand next to the medical examiner and looked at the body in front of him.

"Okay. Hit me."

Jellal point to the two bodies on either side of the one they were standing next to. "Those two died by the fire. They most likely lost consciousness from the smoke and were then burned."

Natsu furrowed his brow. "But this one didn't?" he asked, pointing to the body in front of him.

Jellal shook his head. "No. And that is the interesting part. This man was shot in the middle of the forehead. He died before the fire had even been started."

"But why?" Natsu crossed his arms over chest.

"That, detective, is your area of expertise. I am in charge of the how. Now, I had just noticed this strange protuberance in this victim's throat when you made your entry." Jellal point to the dead man's neck and Natsu noticed the bulge.

"Any idea what it is?"

Jellal shrugged. "Not right now. I was about to find out, though."

Natsu gestured for Jellal to carry on. Jellal nodded his thanks and grabbed a scalpel from his tray of tools. While he worked on the bulge, Natsu glanced around at the other bodies.

"Are they all male?"

Jellal shook his head. "No. The one behind us is female. Mid 20s. The one in front of us is male, also mid 20s. And this one with the strange necklace is his throat is male, probably in his 50s."

"Strange necklace?" Natsu turned back to Jellal to see the man holding up a chain with a pendant hanging off.

"Yes. This is what caused the bulge."

Natsu grabbed some gloves from Jellal's tray and put them on. Then he grabbed the necklace to examine it closer. The chain was nothing special, but the pendant was strange. It looked like a number one with two lines underneath it and a weird fish hook to the right. It looked vaguely familiar but Natsu couldn't quite place where he had seen it before.

"Do you have any evidence bags down here, Jellal?"

"Certainly." Jellal walked over to his besk in the corner and grabbed a bag from it. He walked back to Natsu and held it open so the detective could drop the necklace into it.

"Thanks. I better get up to Cana. Maybe she can pull something off of this. Later, Jellal."

"Farewell."

* * *

After Natsu left for the morgue, Lucy followed the signs to the forensic lab. When she walked in, she saw all manner of scientific equipment. She tried to find Cana and finally found her slumped over a desk in the corner. Lucy approached cautiously, wondering what had happened. When she made it to the desk, Lucy gently put her hand on Cana's shoulder and gave it a little shake.

"Cana? Are you alright?"

Cana moaned and raised her head. She was wearing sunglasses and her hair was a mess.

"I wanna die. Why are hangovers even a thing?"

Lucy giggled and tilted her head. "Why do you drink so much if you know you have work?"

Cana moaned again. "Stop being all smart. I'm the scientist."

Lucy laughed again. "I know. That's why I'm here. Did Jellal send you any DNA from the three people who died in the fire?"

Cana sighed and stood up from her desk. She motioned for Lucy to follow as she walked over to a large computer monitor.

"Yeah. I've got the results already."

Lucy looked surprised. "Really? I thought it took a day or two."

Cana scoffed. "Maybe in cop shows. The real thing is a lot faster. Plus, it helps that our victims have records."

"All three of them?" Lucy asked, storing the DNA test speeds in her mind for future books.

Cana nodded. "Not very serious criminals. Just theft of religious artifacts and assault."

Lucy raised a brow. "Assault sounds kinda serious to me."

Cana shrugged. "Meh. Do you want me to print their files for you?"

Lucy smiled and nodded. "Yes please."

While Cana was printing, Lucy's attention was drawn to the door of the lab, which had just opened. Lucy smiled upon seeing who had entered.

"Natsu! I thought you were downstairs with Jellal."

Natsu looked over to her and smiled back. "I was," he said, making his way to her. "I finished. And he found something that I thought Cana should have a look at."

When he stopped in front of her, he help up the bag for her to see.

"Huh. Weird necklace. Cana is printing the files of the victims. Turns out that they all have records." Lucy jerked her thumb over her shoulder in Cana's direction.

"Really? That's strange. One of them with a record, sure, but all three?"

"That's what I thought. Maybe they worked together?" Lucy suggested.

Cana came back from the printer with three files in her hands. She handed them to Lucy.

"There you go. Can I go back to dying now?

Lucy giggled and nodded, watching Cana shuffle back to the desk.

"What's with her?"

Lucy turned back to Natsu. "Hangover."

Natsu nodded. "Typical. Let me see those files."

Lucy handed them over to him and leaned in closer so she could read them as well.

Natsu laid the files on the table in front of him and opened them all. "Mary Hughes, Byro Cracy and...Sugarboy? That's his name?" Natsu asked incredulously.

Lucy shrugged and continued reading. Upon reaching their criminal record, Lucy noticed something strange.

"Natsu, look." She pointed to each of the files.

Natsu's gaze hardened. "Zentopia. They're all members of Zentopia."

Lucy gave Natsu a confused look. "What's Zentopia?"

"They say that they're a religious institute, but they're really a gang. More of a cult, I guess. They like to harass people on the street about how sinful they are for not joining. There was even an incident last year where we caught them about to sacrifice a young girl, Coco. We saved her and arrested the members who were there, but we were never able to tie any of that to the leader."

Lucy put her hand over her mouth after hearing about the girl. Why do people do these things?

"Who's their leader?"

Natsu sighed. "They like to pretend that it's a man they call the Archbishop, but really it's a man named Lapointe who runs everything. Still, when we deal with them, we always meet with the Archbishop."

Lucy nodded and looked back down at the files. "I wondered what drove these people into joining."

Natsu shrugged. "I don't know. But I think we should meet with the Archbishop. He's always seemed like a reasonable man to me, and I know he cares about the members. We'll have to check with Gramps first."

Lucy nodded and then looked at Natsu again. She noticed that he seemed particularly upset with this breakthrough. She put her hand on his arm to get his attention. When he looked at her, she gave him a small smile.

"You alright?"

Natsu chuckled. "I'm fine. Zentopia is just a pain in the ass to deal with, always going on about their gods and how I'm going straight to hell. It can get really annoying."

Lucy giggled. "It'll be okay. I'm going with you this time. Maybe they'll decide to harass me instead. I can take it."

"Let's hope our news will stop any harassment. Come on, we better go talk to Gramps so we can get going."

Lucy nodded and followed him up to the chief's office. Natsu knocked and then let Lucy go in first after hearing a "Come in."

Makarov looked up from the file he was reading and smiled at Lucy.

"Ah, Miss Heartfilia! How wonderful to see you! Is Natsu treating you well?"

Lucy ignored Natsu's noise of protest and grinned back at the chief. "Yes, he's been great. I'm just glad I've been able to help out a little."

Makarov nodded, his smile never dropping. "Good to hear. Now, what can I do for you two?"

Natsu crossed his arms and frowned. "We need your permission to go see the Archbishop of Zentopia."

That caused Makarov's smile to fall. "Why on earth would you need to do that?"

Lucy cut in. "The three people who died in the fire on the docks were members of Zentopia. Natsu and I think that we should deliver the news personally. It would probably be better than the Archbishop having to hear it on the news."

Makarov brought a hand to his chin. "I'm not sure. Zentopia might try to investigate and take revenge."

Natsu shook his head. "Only if Lapointe hears. The Archbishop is reasonable. He'll understand that we're doing our best to catch whoever did this and he'll leave it to us."

"Natsu, the chances that Lapointe won't hear are very low. He is the Archbishop's right hand man. He knows everything."

Natsu frowned. "That may be true, but I don't like the idea of their first news being from an anchor on TV. The Archbishop cares about his members, even if he does encourage petty crime. He should be told in person."

Makarov sighed and lowered his hand. "You are right. Okay, you can go. But please, be careful. And wait until morning."

Natsu and Lucy grinned.

"I'm always careful, Gramps!"

Makarov scoffed. "If only that were true."


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning, Lucy greeted Natsu at his desk with a cup of steaming black coffee.

"Hey Luce! Sleep well?" Natsu asked, taking the cup from her.

Lucy smiled softly, knowing that he wasn't just being polite. He was indirectly asking her if she'd had anymore nightmares.

"Like a rock, Natsu. Thank you for asking."

Natsu grinned and took a gulp of his coffee. Lucy blanched.

"How the hell do you do that? That stuff is still steaming."

Natsu looked at his cup and shrugged. "Meh. It's not that hot. Besides, I've always had a high tolerance for heat of any kind.

A scoff sounded from the desk in front of Natsu's. "Ain't that the truth. You should see how he makes chili, Lucy. He dumps an entire freaking cup of chili powder in it, I swear."

Lucy laughed at Natsu's pout. "Good morning, Gray."

Gray smiled at her. "Mornin'. Are you two going to see Zentopia today?"

Natsu leaned forward and put his elbows on his desk. "Yeah. You wanna come?"

Gray shook his head. "Nah. I want to do some research on the symbol on the necklace. I know I've seen it somewhere before."

"You too, huh?" Natsu tilted his head at his partner, his frown prominent.

"Yeah. It's bugging the hell outta me."

Lucy patted Natsu on the shoulder to get him to move so she could sit on his desk. Ignoring his look of annoyance, she turned to Gray.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Gray only nodded and looked back down at the picture of the necklace he had on his desk.

Lucy turned he head to Natsu, who had leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.

"When are we meeting the Archbishop?"

Natsu looked down at his watch. "Not for another two hours. Gramps arranged the meeting last night."

Lucy smiled. "Great. Plenty of time for you to take me to breakfast."

"What? Why the hell do I have to take you?" he asked, swivelling his chair to face her head on.

Lucy hopped off of his desk and grabbed his arm to pull him out of his chair.

"Because I said so. Come on! I brought you coffee!"

Natsu stretched his arm behind him and barely grabbed his jacket before Lucy yanked him away.

"Why didn't you eat breakfast at home?"

Lucy turned her head to look back at him and gave him a sheepish smile.

"I told you. I slept like a rock. I only woke up half an hour ago."

Natsu sighed, rolled his eyes, and gave her an exasperated smile.

"Fine. Where do you wanna go?"

The beautiful smile she gave him more than made up for buying her breakfast.

* * *

"Detective Dragneel. It is not often that we speak. How is your family?"

The Archbishop was one of the shortest men Lucy had ever seen in her life. The only one shorter was Chief Makarov. He was dressed as though he was the Pope. Lucy found it odd that this gang would make this man their cover image when he didn't look all that powerful. Then again, looks could be deceiving.

"They're fine. There is something we need to discuss with you."

Natsu looked more uncomfortable than Lucy had ever seen him. His shoulders were tense and his hands were clasped behind his back. Luckily, Makarov had been able to arrange a meeting with just the Archbishop. Lucy had a feeling that if the man called Lapointe was here, Natsu would have brought his weapon with him.

"Always so quick to get to business. You have not introduced your friend. She is not familiar to me."

Natsu sighed and gestured to Lucy. "This is Lucy Heartfilia. She's working with the department temporarily.

The Archbishops face hardened. "Heartfilia? Any relation to Jude Heartfilia?"

Lucy frowned. "Unfortunately. He's my father."

The Archbishop nodded. "I see. Your father and I have not had the best business relationship. I can understand your obvious disdain for him."

Before Lucy could question the Archbishop about his dealings with her father, Natsu shot her a look.

"Sir, please. We have information to share with you and questions that need to be answered."

"Of course. What can I do for you?" The short man leaned back in his elaborate chair.

"We're sorry to have to inform you that three of your members were found dead in a warehouse by the docks two days ago."

Lucy watched as shock, sadness, and anger flitted across the Archbishops face.

"Who?" His voice cracked slightly.

"Mary Hughes, Sugarboy, and Byro Cracy, sir."

More sadness. Lucy had not expected the supposed leader of a gang to show so much attachment to his members.

"I see. Why was I not informed sooner?"

Natsu unclasped his hands and crossed his arms in front of him.

"We had to identify them through DNA. They were killed in a fire."

The Archbishop slumped in his chair. "A fire? So it was an accident?"

Lucy glanced at Natsu to see him biting his lip, as though hesitant to tell the Archbishop more. Natsu caught her eye and sighed.

"No, sir. It wasn't an accident. Byro Cracy was shot before the fire started. Mary Hughes and Sugarboy died in the blaze."

The Archbishop sat up, his eyes narrowed and his mouth set in a straight line.

"They were murdered?"

Natsu nodded, his shoulders still tense. "That's right."

Lucy had never seen anyone look as angry as the Archbishop did at that moment.

"I trust you are doing everything in your power to find the murderer. You said you had questions for me as well."

"Yes." Natsu turned to Lucy and held his hand out. She gave him the evidence bag that contained the necklace. Natsu walked to the Archbishop and showed him the pendant through the bag. "Do you recognize this symbol? We found this necklace on Byro Cracy."

Lucy watched the Archbishop carefully. She saw what looked like a flicker of recognition before the short man's face went completely blank.

"No. I do not know it."

Natsu frowned. "And you're positive?"

"Of course I am positive, boy. Now, I need to inform the rest of my disciples of this tragedy. Please show yourselves out." The Archbishop's tone was final.

Natsu made his way back to Lucy and grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the room with him. When they made it back to the car, Natsu shoved the key in the ignition and jerked the car into drive.

"He was lying. He knows that symbol."

Lucy nodded. "I saw that, too. You don't think he'll do anything rash, do you?"

Natsu sighed angrily, pulling onto the road. "I think he's gonna tell Lapointe."

* * *

When Lucy got home that night, she immediately dialed her managers number, eager to talk to her best friend.

" _Hello?_ "

"Hey Levy."

" _Lu! It's been forever! How are you?_ "

Lucy plopped onto her couch and released a big sigh.

" _That bad, huh?_ "

Lucy laughed. "I'm fine. It's just, Natsu and I had this meeting today. It didn't end very well."

" _Aw. I'm sorry to hear that. Are you having fun besides that?_ "

Lucy sank further into the couch, slipping out of her shoes so she could put her feet on the coffee table in front of her.

"I don't know if fun is the right word. I'm learning a lot and it feels good knowing that I'm helping to help other people. I guess some parts are fun. And I'm making some new friends."

" _There you go! Look for the positives! How's the book coming?_ "

Lucy laughed sheepishly. "Well..."

" _Have you even started?_ " Levy sounded amused.

"Yes. I have an idea. I've just been...busy."

" _Don't you mean preoccupied with a certain detective?_ " Levy teased.

Lucy's mouth dropped open. "What?! No! I mean, sort of. I'm working with him!"

Levy laughed on the other side of the phone. Lucy could hear something sizzling and faint conversation in the background.

" _Sure. Don't tell me you don't think he's cute._ "

Lucy crossed her arms and pouted. "I never said that."

Levy gasped. " _So you do think he's cute!_ "

"Levy!" Lucy whined.

" _Sorry! Is hot a more accurate description?_ "

"Oh my god, Levy! Shut up!"

Lucy listened to Levy cracking up. So what if she thought Natsu was hot? It was true!

" _Alright, I'm done. What case are you guys working, anyway?_ "

Lucy sighed, still slightly annoyed. "Did you hear about the fire by the docks?"

Levy hummed. " _Yeah. Why would you be investigating that? That sounds like a fire department thing._ "

"Normally, yes. But people died and the fire wasn't an accident, so we got called in."

Levy gasped. " _That's terrible! I hope you find out who did it._ "

Lucy heard a call of Levy's name and the sound of a door closing.

" _Hey Juvia! Sorry Lu, I'll have to cut this talk short. Juvia is here for movie night. I'll talk to you later, okay?_ "

"Sounds good. Tell Juvia hi for me."

" _I will. Good night, Lu! Get some sleep, you sound tired. Love you!_ "

"Night, Lev. Love you too."

Lucy hung up the phone and sighed again. She put her feet back on the floor and trudged to her room, collapsing on her bed without bothering to put on pajamas. Who knew talking to gang leaders would be so exhausting?

* * *

Juvia Lockser loved her job. The aquarium had always been her favorite place as a child and now she got to go work there.

Juvia was a marine biologist. She specialized in sharks, dolphins, and whales. Though she worked with the dolphins more often than anything, this morning, she was on her way to the shark tank. She had promised the caretaker that she would have a look at their lemon shark, which had been acting extremely territorial lately.

The aquarium didn't required its employees to check in until 7 a.m., but Juvia had wanted to get an early start, so she was walking through the doors at 6. She had no idea what was wrong with the lemon shark or how long it would take to figure it out.

As she walked down the hallways, she occasionally stopped in front of a tank to watch the fish inside with a smile. She loved marine life.

When she finally made it to the shark tank, she went through a door to the right that said 'Employees Only'. She slipped off her coat and draped it over the back of the first chair she came across. Then, she started up the stairs to look into the tank from above.

When she made it up and looked into the tank, the first thing she did was scream.

Floating on the surface of the water was a man. His throat had been cut open and his blood was seeping into the water, staining it red. On his shoulder was a symbol. A number one with two lines underneath it and a fish hook to the right.

* * *

 **AN: Thank you so much for the reviews! Seriously, I grin like an idiot whenever I read one. They mean a lot to me. Also, please don't kill me for doing this to poor Juvia. It had to be done. Keep up the reviews and thanks again!**


	13. Chapter 13

Lucy figured that after living with her sister constantly bumping into things at night, she would have been able to sleep through bangs. But Natsu took it to a whole new level. He was currently slamming on her apartment door so hard, she was convinced it was going to break open.

She threw her covers off and stood up, grumbling about idiot detectives and their lack of respect for beauty sleep. When she entered her living area, she saw that her door was shaking with the force of the fist hitting it from the other side.

"Come on, Lucy! Open up! We gotta go!"

Lucy threw the deadbolt and swung the door open, barely dodging Natsu's stray knock.

Natsu pulled his arm back and gave her an apologetic smile.

"Why the hell are you trying to break my door down at 6:15 in the goddamn morning?" Lucy asked, holding her forehead in her hand.

Natsu gestured to her exasperatedly. "You weren't answering your phone and we have a case!"

Lucy stood straighter and put her hand back at her side. "You've never done this for a case before. What's the big deal?"

Natsu folded his arms across his chest. "That's because our other cases have never escalated like this. Put some clothes on, I'll explain on the way."

Lucy had never gotten dressed so quickly in her life. In five minutes, she was following after Natsu as he led the way to his car.

"Spill. What's going on?"

Natsu glanced at her over his shoulder. "Gray was able to find that symbol on the necklace in an old file. It's the Oracion Seis."

Lucy furrowed her brow. "That gang that was causing a bunch of trouble three years ago?"

Natsu nodded. "Yeah. We were able to nab their leader with the help of one of the members who started working for us. Brain is in jail on a life sentence for murder and Richard is on probation. We also rounded up most of the lower tier members."

Lucy tilted her head in confusion as she and Natsu left her building. "I don't understand. If you guys caught everyone, why was that necklace in Byro's throat?"

Natsu sighed, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "But we didn't catch everyone. Four of the main six and one of the higher level members got away. We've been trying to find them, but they fell completely off the grid."

Lucy climbed into the passenger seat of Natsu's car and buckled her seat belt. "So why attack Zentopia now and bring attention to themselves?"

"I don't know. It doesn't make any sense." Natsu pulled off the curb and onto the street.

"Where are we going, anyway?" Lucy asked, watching the buildings pass through her window.

"The aquarium. One of the marine biologists found a body in the shark tank."

Lucy's head snapped back to Natsu. "What?!"

Natsu jumped, startled by her sudden increase in volume. "What what?"

"I know one of the marine biologists. Do you have a name?" Lucy hoped and prayed that it wasn't who she thought it was.

"Uh, something Lockser, I think."

Lucy's face fell. "Oh no. Poor Juvia." Then she tapped her hand on her door. "Can you go faster?"

Natsu looked confused but sped up anyway.

The second Natsu had put the car in park in front of the Magnolia Aquarium, Lucy shot out of the car and ran into the building. She had visited often enough that she knew exactly where the sharks tank was. When she got there, she skidded to a stop and looked around wildly for her blue-haired friend.

"Lucy!" came a call from to her right.

She spun that way and immediately spotted Juvia standing with Gray.

"Juvia! Oh my God, are you alright?!" Lucy ran to her and crushed her in a hug.

"Juvia is fine. Really. I'm just a little...shocked, I guess."

Lucy pulled back but kept her hands on Juvia's shoulders.

"As well you should be! Oh, this is just terrible!"

"So, I take it you two know each other."

While the two girls had been hugging, Natsu had caught up and was standing next to his partner.

"Oh yes! Juvia and Lucy are good friends!" Juvia exclaimed, throwing her arm around Lucy's shoulder.

Natsu nodded in understanding and turned to Gray. "Where's the victim?"

Gray jerked his thumb over his shoulder in the direction of a door next to the tank. "In there. Jellal just got here, so I figured I would give him a few minutes. I was taking Juvia's statement when Miss Worry Wart got here."

Lucy pouted at him and crossed her arms. "Hey! I'm allowed to worry!"

Juvia looked between Gray and Lucy, clearly confused. "Juvia doesn't understand. How do Lucy and Gray know each other?"

Lucy turned back to Juvia. "Didn't Levy tell you? I'm shadowing these guys for insight for my next book."

Juvia shook her head. "Levy never mentioned it. I guess I was too busy telling her all about Gray."

Lucy uncrossed her arms in shock. "Gray? _He's_ the guy you've been ranting to Levy about?"

Juvia nodded, a grin spreading across her face. "Oh yes. Juvia likes him very much."

The two were pulled out of their conversation by Natsu clearing his throat.

"You two are aware that they person you're talking about is three feet away, right?"

Lucy turned to Gray. "Yeah, about that. What the hell, Gray?"

Gray looked shocked. "Me? What did I do?!"

Lucy smacked him on the arm. "Why didn't you tell me you were talking to a girl? Is she who you've texting nonstop?"

Gray rubbed his arm and scowled. "I didn't know I had to tell you. I didn't know you even knew Juvia."

Lucy pouted again. "Still. This is the kind of thing you tell me about. Come on, Gray. I thought we were friends."

Natsu snickered when Gray threw his hands in the arms in exasperation.

"Just say sorry, dude. She won't stop until you do."

Gray wheeling around so he was facing Natsu. "Sorry for what? I don't get it!"

Natsu shook his head and shrugged. "You don't have to. Just do it."

Gray was saved from having to apologize by the appearance of Jellal.

"Oh, thank god! Save me!"

Jellal looked between everyone in the group and settled on Gray. "From what? Is your life in danger?"

Lucy giggled when Gray groaned. "Never mind him. What'd you find?"

Jellal turned to her and smiled lightly. "Not much, I'm afraid. The victim was submerged in the water, which effectively washed away the majority of any physical evidence there might have been. However, I did find something that I thought you all might find interesting."

Natsu gestured for Jellal to lead the way. Lucy grabbed Juvia arm and stayed put.

"I'm going to stay with Juvia. You two go ahead."

Natsu and Gray nodded in understanding and followed Jellal through the door.

When they were gone, Lucy turned to Juvia and looked her over.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Juvia smiled and nodded. "Juvia is fine, Lucy, really."

Lucy put her hands back on Juvia's shoulders. "Are you positive? Should I call Levy?"

Juvia sighed and shook her head at her over protective friend. "Really, Lucy. Juvia is perfectly fine. But maybe Lucy should call Levy. Juvia believes she will need someone to confirm her alibi."

Lucy's hands fell from Juvia's shoulders. "Your alibi? They think you had something to do with this?"

Before Juvia could even open her mouth, the door next to the tank swung open and an angry Natsu stormed out. He walked straight to Lucy, grabbed her arm and began draggin her out of the building.

"Natsu, what the hell? What's going on?" Lucy asked, struggling to keep up with the detective's quick pace.

"Those idiots. I thought he was smarter than this," Natsu grumbled.

"Who? Smarter than what? Natsu, slow down."

"Zentopia. They should have known we would suspect them. And he lied to my face! That no good bastard!"

Natsu came to a full stop when they arrived at his car. Lucy, still carried by momentum, stumbled into back. She pulled away, rubbing her nose and grimacing.

"Natsu, you better start explaining what just happened."

Natsu gestured to the car. "Get in and then I'll talk."

Lucy let out a frustrated breath but climbed into the car anyway. As soon as Natsu was in that car, she started her questions again.

"Why are we mad at Zentopia?"

Natsu grumbled and turned the wheel harshly, pulling onto the street. "Because our vic is Oracion Seis."

Lucy's eyes widened. "Really?"

Natsu nodded, his face twisted in a scowl. "Yeah. That high level member that got away. His name is Klodoa. He's got the mark and everything."

Lucy scrunched her eyebrows. "So why are we mad at Zentopia?"

Natsu turned to her and raised one of his eyebrows. "You're joking, right? Three of Zentopia members are killed and the Oracion Seis mark is found in one of their throats. And then an Oracion Seis member just happens to be killed? I don't believe in coincidences, Lucy."

"Okay. Where are we going?"

Natsu looked back at the road. "We're going to tell Gramps we need to have another chat with our local cult leader."

* * *

 **AN: I'm going to start updating more often. School is starting soon and I have plenty of chapters written. Keep up the reviews! See ya later!**


	14. Chapter 14

"Don't be ridiculous!"

Natsu slammed his hands down on Makarov's desk. "I'm not being ridiculous!"

The chief of police put his elbows on his desk and his head in his hands. "Yes, you are. I will not order a raid on Zentopia!"

Lucy stayed in her chair, sinking a little lower as if to merge with the leather.

"Why the hell not?! It's obvious that they killed Klodoa!"

Makarov looked up at the detective, frustration clear in his eyes. "It is equally obvious that the Oracion Seis murdered the three Zentopia members. I don't hear you calling for action against them."

Natsu scoffed and leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest. "Yeah, well. I don't like being lied to."

Makarov sighed. "I understand that, Natsu. By lying to you, the Archbishop lied to the entire department. Don't you think I'm frustrated by that as well?"

Natsu fell backwards into his chair. "You have a funny way of showing it."

Here, Lucy decided to cut in. "No, he has a logical way of showing it. It may be obvious who did what, but we have no proof Zentopia was involved in Klodoa's death. If we're going to arrest anyone, it should be the Oracion Seis. We have evidence that puts them, or at least one of their members, in that warehouse. Natsu, I get that you're angry, but you need to be reasonable."

Natsu sighed and looked her. "I know. Thanks, Luce."

Lucy returned his small smile and then turned to Makarov. "So, what _are_ we going to do?"

Makarov leaned back in his chair. "We have a lead on where the Oracion Seis might be hiding. Natsu, I want you to take Jet, Droy and Max and check it out. I'm going to send Gray to talk to the Archbishop."

Natsu sat forward. "Where did you get a lead?"

"The results about the accelerant used in the fire come back. It was an experimental chemical called Quick Flame. Production was ceased after the factory exploded. Apparently, the stuff worked a little too well. Erza and Gajeel did some digging and found that it's extremely volatile and cannot be transported over long distances. My theory is that the Oracion Seis is holed up in another warehouse on the docks and is making their own Quick Flame," Makarov explained, handing Natsu a file with the lab results.

Lucy put her hand on her chin in thought. "That makes sense. They would have been able to stay close enough to make sure no one escaped the fire. But they also have to be in one the warehouses outside of the perimeter, right?"

Makarov nodded. "Which narrows it down to only two warehouses. However, one of those is currently in use, by none other than Jude Heartfilia."

Lucy looked up and frowned. "What?"

"Your father. He is using one of those warehouses. So the Oracion Seis must be in the other one."

Lucy looked down at her lap. Why did her father have a warehouse on the docks? Everything he shipped traveled by train. As far as Lucy knew, he didn't have an international branch that would require a boat.

"Luce? Everything okay?" Natsu put his hand on her shoulder to pull her out of her thoughts.

Lucy started and looked up, seeing both men watching her with concern. "Yes. Everything's fine. Are you ready to go?"

Natsu sent her a look that let her know he did not believe her. She simply smiled at him.

Makarov stood up to see them out. "Send Gray in here, would you?"

Natsu nodded and followed Lucy out the door.

"Damn it, Midnight!"

Said man stirred from his thoughts and raised a brow at his companion. The angry man's maroon hair was spiked up and one of his eyes far forever closed by the scar that sliced over it.

"What is it this time, Cobra?"

Cobra glared at him with his one good eye. "You know damn well what! Those religious assholes killed Klodoa and you're not going to do anything?!"

Midnight sighed and looked at Cobra as though he were a child throwing a tantrum. "That's correct."

Cobra seethed. "Why the hell not?!"

"Because it's part of the plan," came a voice from the doorway. Standing there was a woman, scantily clad in feathers, her white hair cascading to her waist and held back with a blue headband.

"What the hell kind of plan gets us all killed?" Cobra snarled.

The woman walked into the room and sat in a chair next to the raging redhead.

"We were hired to drive Zentopia away from the docks. The only way to do that was to start a war. I don't see what you're so upset about. You didn't even like Klodoa."

"It doesn't matter that I didn't like him, Angel. He was part of the gang!"

Midnight held his hand up to silence them. "Cobra, just because we are not taking action right this second does not mean we won't."

Cobra growled and then stormed from the room. Angel rolled her eyes and turned to Midnight.

"Honestly, he's such a child."

Midnight hummed in agreement. "He does make an interesting point. I'll have to speak with our client about upping our pay to reimburse us for our loss."

Angel raised a brow. "Are you sure he'll agree to that?"

Midnight smiled. "I don't see why not. Jude Heartfilia has no shortage of money to spare."

* * *

 **AN: Hey guys! Sorry that it took me so longer to get this chapter up. I had some family stuff to take care of and a job interview to go to. Happy to say I did gat the job. Hurray! Anyway, to make up for bein gone so long, I'm going to post the next two chapters. Hope you enjoy! Keep up the reviews! See ya later!**


	15. Chapter 15

Gray walked into the chief's office and put his hands in his pockets.

"You wanted to see me, Gramps?"

Makarov looked up from the file on his desk. "Yes. I need you to go talk to Zentopia about their decision to lie to us."

Gray shrugged and turned to leave. "Okay."

"Just a moment, Gray. I don't want you going alone."

Gray sighed and turned around. "I'm perfectly fine on my own."

Makarov nodded. "Be that as it may, I want you to take Vastia with you."

Gray demeanor changed instantly. "What?!"

Makarov looked at him with wide eyes. "What's the problem?"

Gray gesticulated wildly with his hands. "I can't take Lyon!"

Makarov furrowed his brows in confusion. "Why not?"

"Because he-" Gray stuttered. "He's Lyon!"

"I fail to see how that would discourage you from taking him. From what I understand, you two are brothers."

Gray scowled. "Adopted. And he's an asshole."

Makarov waved his hand in the air, dismissing Gray's protests. "Whatever. Take him with you."

Gray groaned and stomped out of the office. He swiped his coat from his desk chair as he strode by and made his way to Lyon's desk. The white haired man was sitting there, calming going through paperwork. He looked up when he felt a presence standing next to him.

"Ah. Hello, Gray. What do you want?"

"You're coming with me to Zentopia."

"And why in the world would I do that?"

"Gramps' orders."

Lyon raised a brow. "I see. Why me and not Natsu?"

Gray sighed in frustration. "Natsu's busy following up a lead and Gramps refuses to let me go alone.

Lyon smirked and stood up. "So I'm being sent to babysit?"

Gray scowled more fiercely than ever. "Hardly. Let's not forget that I outrank you, you cocky idiot."

Lyon scoffed and walked past Gray in the direction of the door. "Only by one rank."

"I'm still better than you!" Gray yelled after him as he began to follow.

"In your dreams!" Lyon yelled back.

* * *

"So, are we going to talk about that little thing with your dad, or not?" Natsu asked, looking at Lucy from the corner of his eye.

They were currently on their way to the docks to investigate the warehouse. Jet, Droy and Max were following in a separate squad car.

Lucy sighed and turned in her seat to face him. "I'm just confused, that's all."

"About what?"

"Why my dad has a warehouse."

Natsu furrowed his brow and glanced at her again. "I don't understand. Your dad owns a huge company that ships all over the country. Why wouldn't he have a warehouse?"

"It's not the warehouse itself. It's the location. As far as I know, the Heartfilia Corporation ships everything by train. There isn't any reason for him to have a warehouse on the docks."

Natsu frowned. "Huh. Maybe he's planning on opening one?"

Lucy shook her head. "That's what I thought, but he would have made a spectacle if that were the case. Everyone in the country would know."

"Are you sure you're not overthinking it?"

Lucy sighed again. "I probably am. I'm just curious by nature, I guess."

Natsu smiled. "Well, that's just you. Maybe you could ask your sister. Didn't you say she works for him?"

Lucy gasped. "Oh my god! Natsu, you're a genius!"

Natsu shrugged, his smile growing. "I have my moments. You'll have to wait, though. That's the warehouse."

Both cars pulled up and parked on the curb right outside the building. The passengers all climbed out and congregated next to Natsu's Challenger.

"Alright," Natsu began. "Jet and Droy are going inside with me. Max, You stay out here with Lucy."

Lucy frowned and turned to the detective. "Natsu, I'm going in with you."

Natsu shook his head and put his hands on her shoulders. "No. This isn't like Zentopia, Lucy. If the Oracion Seis is in there, this is going to be dangerous. You're staying out here."

Lucy pushed his hands away and shook her head. "I don't care. Look, if this is about me suing the department, I can't. I signed-"

Natsu cut her off. "It's not about the department. I don't want you to get hurt. Please, stay out here. For me."

Lucy crossed her arms and stared at Natsu. His gaze was pleading. She sighed and nodded.

"Fine. But you're not allowed to get hurt, either," she demanded, poking him hard in the chest.

Natsu grinned at her and then turned to Jet and Droy. "Let's go."

The three had just entered the warehouse when Lucy and Max heard the gunshot.

* * *

"I don't know what you mean," the man insisted.

Gray rolled his eyes. "Archbishop, do you really expect us to believe that you had nothing to do with this?"

"Detective, I expect you to believe the truth. And the truth is that I know nothing of this man's death."

Gray looked and Lyon and then back to the Archbishop. "Sir, my partner showed you a symbol. When he asked you if you recognized it, you lied and told him you didn't."

The Archbishop sighed and nodded. "Yes. I will admit that it was wrong of me to say that. The reason I lied was to protect my children. If I told Detective Dragneel what I knew of the symbol, my disciples would have immediately heard and gone to retaliate."

Gray tilted his head. "How would they have heard? You met with Natsu and Lucy alone."

"My boy, I am the leader here. Do you really believe that I would be left completely alone in a room with a man trained in combat?"

Lyon laughed incredulously. "You felt threatened by an unarmed officer of the law?"

The Archbishop turned to the officer. "I did not. My second in command did."

The Archbishop gestured to a stoic man standing next to his chair. The man had white hair in a bowl cut and a pair of glasses perched on his nose.

"And did you tell your second in command what you knew?" Lyon questioned.

"I do hope you are not insinuating that I killed that man," Lapointe said.

Gray raised a brow. "That wasn't the question, Mr. Lapointe. Did you know that the necklace was the Oracion Seis?"

"I don't like your tone, Detective."

The Archbishop gave Lapointe a stern look. "Just answer the man."

Lapointe turned to his leader. "I refuse to be questioned as though I am a suspect."

Gray crossed his arms. "You are a suspect. Everyone is Zentopia is a suspect."

Lapointe gave the detective a scothing look. The Archbishop rolled his eyes.

"Oh for heaven's sake. Yes, I told Lapointe. But I gave strict instructions that no action was to be taken against the Oracion Seis. I will not start a war and get innocent people hurt."

Lyon watched Lapointe's face harden. "And how do you feel about that, Mr. Lapointe?"

The man turned back to the officer. "Innocent people have not been hurt."

Gray frowned. "A man was murdered."

Lapointe scoffed. "Hardly innocent, was he?"

The Archbishop gasped. "Lapointe...did you kill that man?"

"I was protecting the church! Something you have been failing to do since Dan died!"

The Archbishop flinched. "Dan was a troubled man. He was not murdered in cold blood. He was shot by a detective doing his job."

Lapointe rounded on the older man. "And what did you do about it?! Nothing!"

The Archbishop stood from his chair. "What would you have had me do? Go after the detective? Or the woman whose life Dan threatened?"

Gray stepped forward and put his hand on Lapointe shoulder. "Sir, you do realize you just confessed to murder, right?"

Lapointe jerked away from Gray's hand and blanched. "No-I-Wha-"

Gray sighed. "Lyon, cuff him please."

Lyon stepped forward and pulled the stammering man's hands behind his back. "With pleasure."


	16. Chapter 16

"Natsu!" Lucy screamed, lurching forward to run into the warehouse. She was stopped by Max's arm wrapping around her waist, holding her back.

"Miss Heartfilia, no! We have to call for backup!"

Lucy struggled against his hold, fighting harder when more gunshots rang out.

"Let me go, Max!"

The officer ignored her and leaned into his shoulder to talk into his walkie talkie.

"10-34 at the warehouse on the docks. Shots fired, I repeat, shots fired. Possible officer down. We need ba-Miss Heartfilia, come back!" Max yelled, reaching out to try and grab her arm as she escaped his hold.

Lucy ignored him and ran to the warehouse, tears building in her eyes. ' _Please be okay_.'

She burst through the door and immediately ducked as a bullet whizzed by her head, striking the wall next to her. She looked around desperately, trying to find Natsu, Jet and Droy. She spotted them crouching behind some crates to her left. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the blood dripping down Natsu's left arm.

"Natsu!" she cried.

Natsu looked over to her in shock. "Lucy! No! Get out of here!"

Lucy shook her head started making her way over to him, taking cover where she could. She finally made it to him and knelt next him, examining his shoulder.

"What happened?"

Natsu peeked over the crate and fired a few shots towards the other side of the warehouse.

"It's them. Bastards started shooting as soon as they saw us. Lucy, you shouldn't be in here. It's not safe."

Lucy stared at him incredulously. "I wasn't just going to stay outside and do nothing!"

Natsu let out a noise of protest. "What the hell can you do in here except get shot?!"

She pressed her hand to his shoulder. He cried out in pain and fell back against the crate.

"I can stop you from bleeding to death. Max radioed for backup."

Natsu grit his teeth and nodded. "We heard dispatch respond. Gildarts is coming."

Lucy slipped her jacket off and pressed it into Natsu's shoulder. "Who's Gildarts?"

Natsu put his hand over hers on his shoulder and squinted his eyes from the pain. "Head of SWAT. He's got an insane response time, so he'll probably be here in two minutes."

Lucy nodded. "So we just have to hold out a little longer."

Natsu grunted and looked over to Jet and Droy, both of whom were squatting behind a crate three feet away.

"You two alright?" he called.

Both men gave him a thumbs up and fired more shots over the crate.

This went on for another minute before they finally heard a voice over a megaphone.

"THIS IS THE MAGNOLIA POLICE! WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED! COME OUT WITH YOUR HANDS UP! YOU HAVE ONE MINUTE!"

Natsu smirked and patted Lucy on the shoulder. "That was Gildarts. He's probably got a team ready to breach too."

Lucy smiled in relief and looked at his shoulder. Her jacket had absorbed a lot of blood and Natsu's skin was starting to look pale.

"Are you alright?"

Natsu nodded and peeked over the crate again. "Peachy."

Lucy gave a breathless laugh.

"YOUR ONE MINUTE IS UP!"

Natsu grinned. "Ten seconds early. As usual."

Lucy looked to the door of the warehouse just as it burst open and SWAT rushed in. Three carried riot shields, the other seven following behind. The largest member broke off and made a beeline for Natsu and Lucy. When he got to them, he crouched beside them and gave them a huge grin.

"What's up?"

Natsu rolled his eyes. "Really, Gildarts? We're in the middle of a firefight and you say 'What's up?"

The man chuckled and shrugged. "Would you rather I point out the obvious fact that you have been shot?"

Lucy heard a few more shots, some yelling and cursing and then a shout from a SWAT member.

"All clear, boss. We're taking 'em outside!"

Gildarts' grin widened. "Let's get you guys out of here."

Lucy helped Natsu stand and allowed him to lean on her as they made their way out, wrapping an arm around his waist. She spotted the ambulance behind the line of police cars and steered Natsu in that direction. Gildarts broke off to go talk to Makarov, who was supervising the arrests of the Oracion Seis.

"Luce, follow Gildarts."

Lucy shook her head. "Not a chance, Natsu. You need medical attention."

Natsu tried to break away from her to follow Gildarts but she held tight and pulled him to the EMTs. She sat him down in the back of the ambulance and made sure he stayed there while the paramedics checked his shoulder.

She looked behind her at the sound of a car coming to a screeching halt. The driver side door swung open and Gray shot out of the car. He looked around the scene before spotting Lucy and Natsu. He immediately started making his way over.

"Natsu! Lucy! Are you guys alright?" he asked as he stopped in front of them.

"I'm fine. Natsu got shot in the shoulder," Lucy explained, gesturing to Natsu behind her.

Gray sighed in relief and then stared at her hands. "Why are you covered in blood?"

Lucy looked down and noticed that she did indeed have blood on her hands and some on her shirt. She looked back at Gray.

"It must be Natsu's. After I heard the first shot, I ran and helped Natsu."

Gray's eyes widened in disbelief. "You ran in? What the hell were you thinking?!"

"That's what I want to know," Natsu chimed in.

Lucy looked between the two of them. "I wanted to help. And look, I'm totally fine."

Gray and Natsu gave each other an exasperated look and shook their heads at her.

Lucy turned to the paramedic tending to Natsu's arm. "How is he?"

The woman looked at her. "He needs stitches, so he'll have to go to the hospital. Luckily, the bullet only grazed his arm. This would have been a lot worse if it had gone through."

Lucy nodded. "Thank you."

Natsu held his hand out to Lucy. She grabbed it and he pulled her forward into a hug.

"Thank you."

Lucy buried her face in his neck and nodded. "No problem. You would have done the same for me."

Gray chuckled. "Just proves that his stupidity is rubbing off on you."

Natsu growled. "Damn it, Gray! Way to ruin the moment!"

Lucy rode with Natsu to the hospital and stayed with him while he got stitched up. The doctor was just going over what Natsu needed to be careful doing when a shot rang through the emergency room.

"Where's my son?!"

Natsu flinched. "Shit. Who the hell told her?"

Lucy gave Natsu a confused look before turning to the door. There stood a woman with pale blue hair to her shoulders. She was wearing a lab coat and had a tag on the front pocket. Under the coat, Lucy could see a pair of pink scrubs. The woman spotted Natsu right away and ran over.

"Natsu! Are you alright? What happened? Where does it hurt?" She fired questions at him quickly, all the while running her hands over his face and down his arms.

Natsu batted her hands away with his good arm and groaned. "Mom! Chill out, I'm fine!"

The woman pulled away and put her hands on her hips. "Fine? Young man, you had better start explaining exactly what happened!"

Natsu rolled his eyes. "There was a firefight. I got grazed. I'm fine. End of story."

The woman gasped. "You got shot? Do you know how much blood loss occurs because of gunshot wounds?! Why were you in a firefight?"

Natsu sighed. "Mom, I was doing my job. Besides, Luce here helped slow the bleeding."

The woman looked to Lucy as though just noticing her. "Oh. Hello, dear. I'm Grandine Dragneel."

Lucy shook her outstretched hand. "Hello, Mrs. Dragneel. I'm Lucy Heartfilia."

Grandine waved her hand in the air. "Please, call me Grandine. Are you the 'Luce' Natsu mentioned?"

Lucy nodded. "Yes. I used my jacket. I couldn't le-"

She was cut off when Grandine pulled her into a bear hug.

"Thank you, Lucy. You saved my son."

Lucy relaxed into the hug and returned it. "It was nothing, really. Just returning the favor."

Grandine pulled back and looked at her son. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Natsu rolled his eyes again. "I'm _fine_."

"Okay. Well, it was lovely to meet you, Lucy. Natsu, bring her to the family dinner tomorrow night. I've got to get back to my shift," Grandine said as she made her way out of the ER.

"Wait, Mom! Gah!"

Lucy giggled. "What's wrong?"

Natsu rubbed his forehead with his good hand. "Nothing. I was going to ask her not to mention to Dad or Wendy that I got shot. They'll both freak out worse than she did."

The doctor that had stitched Natsu up, who had given them some privacy when Grandine came over, reappeared at Natsu's shoulder.

"Well, Detective, you should be fine in a week or so. No excessive movement, take pain medication when you need to and, please, don't get shot again."

Natsu grinned. "No promises."

Lucy smacked Natsu's uninjured shoulder and glared at him. "No more getting shot."

Natsu chuckled and hopped off the bed. "Come on, Luce. Let's head to the station. I wanna see those Oracion Seis idiots get interrogated by an angry Gramps."

* * *

 **AN: I'm going to be posting two chapters everyday. It will only take four days for me to get everything posted. I want to have it all up before school starts, because I'll have very little time to do anything after that. Keep up the reviews! See ya later!**


	17. Chapter 17

"I ain't telling you shit," Cobra growled, leaning back as far as he could with his hands cuffed to a ring on the table.

Makarov himself had decided to do the interrogation, mainly to find out which one had shot Natsu and tear them a new one.

"Erik, I would like to help you, but I can only do that if you cooperate with me. Tell me what you know and I'll work something out with the DA."

Cobra pondered this. He hated everyone in his gang anyway. Why the hell should he spend the rest of his life in prison for them?

"Fine."

"Did you kill Mary Hughes, Byro Cracy and Sugarboy?" Makarov asked calmly.

Cobra shot forward. "You aren't pinning that on me! I didn't have anything to do with that! That was all Angel!"

"Who shot Detective Dragneel?"

Cobra leaned back again. "Wasn't me. I didn't grab a gun until your people fired."

Makarov nodded. "I see. Why?"

Cobra looked confused. "To protect myself?"

Makarov shook his head. "You misunderstand. The Oracion Seis fell off the grid three years ago and you all did very well hiding. We weren't able to find even a whisper of your whereabouts. So, why do all this now?"

"Ask the idiot, Midnight."

Makarov raised a brow. "Is he in charge?"

Cobra scoffed. "Only because he's approachable."

"Why would he need to be approachable? You were in hiding."

"Because we still take jobs for people with enough money."

Makarov jotted down this interesting piece of information and looked back at Cobra.

"Were you hired to attack Zentopia?"

"Yes."

"By whom?"

Cobra shrugged. "Beats the hell out of me. Midnight didn't tell me that. He likes to keep secrets, the bastard."

Makarov nodded again and then stood up. "I believe that's all. Thank you for your cooperation. I'll be back when I've talked to the DA."

The chief left the room and walked to the one next door. He was about to enter when he saw Natsu and Lucy coming down the hallway.

"Natsu, my boy! How's the shoulder?"

Natsu grinned. "I'm fine, Gramps. Just a little sore. Who are you talking to now?"

Makarov gestured to the door. "I was about to have a lovely chat with Miss Sorano. Care to watch?"

Natsu nodded excitedly and led Lucy to the viewing room. They watched Makarov enter the room and have a seat in front of Angel.

"Well, Miss Sorano. I have not heard very good things about you."

"No doubt from that snake, Cobra. He's always hated me," she replied, examining her nails.

"I have a few questions, if you don't mind."

"Actually, I do mind. Not that that will stop you from asking. I'll answer if I feel like it."

Lucy scowled. "I hate her."

Natsu barked out a laugh. "The interrogation just started!"

Lucy shrugged. "What? Can you blame me?"

Natsu shook his head. "What makes you hate her?"

"She thinks she better than Makarov. She probably goes by the name Angel because she thinks she is one. She's literally embodies everything I hated about living with my dad."

Natsu turned to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "You alright?"

Lucy sighed and nodded turning back to the interrogation.

"No, I did not shoot your detective. If I had, he would be dead. It was probably Racer. Poor man's aim has always sucked. He's better at running away," Angel was saying.

"Did you kill Mary Hughes, Byro Cracy and Sugarboy?"

"Who?"

Makarov looked up at her from his notepad. "The three Zentopia members in the warehouse, one with your gang sign shoved down his throat."

Angel smiled. "Oh! Those three. Yeah, that was me. You should have heard them beg for mercy. It was pathetic, really."

Makarov frowned. Natsu and Lucy both scowled behind the glass.

"Now I get it. I hate her, too," Natsu growled.

Makarov stood up and collected his papers. "Thank you for your coo-"

"Leaving so soon? What a pity."

Makarov cleared his throat and continued. "I'll see about possibly getting a deal for your cooperation."

Angel waved her hand in the air. "Don't bother. I would rather live in prison than be known for helping you out."

Makarov shook his head and left the room. Natsu and Lucy met him in the hallway.

"There's one case closed."

Makarov nodded. "Indeed. And Gray arrested Lapointe for Klodoa's murder. I believe I will talk to Macbeth next. I'll have Max talk to Sawyer."

Natsu and Lucy followed him to the next room and again entered the viewing area.

"Good afternoon, Macbeth."

Midnight looked up from his hands. "Afternoon, Makarov. I take it you have spoken to the others already?"

"Most of them, yes. I just want to confirm a few things with you."

Midnight spread his cuffed hands as much as he could. "Ask away."

"Did you shoot my detective?" Makarov started.

Natsu grinned behind the glass. "Of course he asks that first. Doesn't he know that's not the most important question."

Lucy shrugged. "It's the most important to him. I would have done the same."

Natsu's cheeks turned a faint pink as he turned to look at her. She was too focused on the questioning to notice.

"No. That was Racer. Bad aim."

"Why did you come out of hiding?"

Midnight gave a small, knowing smile and leaned back. "We had a job to do."

Makarov raised a brow. "You were hired to attack Zentopia."

"I didn't hear a question."

"Who hired you?"

Midnight's smiled widened slightly. "Chief Makarov, have you never heard of client confidentiality?"

Makarov frowned and folded his hand on the table. "Macbeth, we can work something out. I need a name."

Midnight shrugged. "Pity. My lips are sealed."

Makarov stood from his chair. "Thank you for your cooperation," he said one last time.

Again, Natsu and Lucy met him in the hall.

"They were hired?" Lucy asked.

"So it would seem. None of them would give a name, however."

Lucy's phone rang at that moment, surprising her out of her thoughts. She checked the screen and smiled.

"Sorry, it's Michelle. I'll meet you at your desk, Natsu."

He nodded and walked away. Lucy pressed her phone to her ear and gave a very chipper hello.

" _Lucy! I was watching the news and they're talking about some gunfight at the docks! You weren't there, right? You're okay?_ "

Lucy gave a sheepish laugh. "Well, actually, I was there. But I'm fine!"

" _Oh my god! Are you sure you're okay?!_ "

"Yes, Michelle. I'm fine. Natsu got grazed, but I'm perfectly alright."

" _You got shot at?! I thought it was in some warehouse!_ "

"It was. I heard the shot right after Natsu went in. I followed to make sure he was okay," Lucy explained, making her way into the bullpen. She was Natsu and Gray talking by their desks.

" _Lucy! You went into a building when you knew crazy, gun-shooting criminal were inside?!_ "

"Uh, yes?"

" _Are you out of your mind?!_ "

Lucy frowned. "Michelle, I wasn't going to stand outside and wait and worry and hope. I had to do something."

" _You could have been killed!_ "

"So could Natsu! He still went in!"

" _First of all, Natsu did not know he was about to be shot at. You did. Second of all, Natsu is a trained officer. He knows what he's doing. You, on the other hand, are not! You can't just run into a situation like that!_ "

Lucy put her free hand on her hip. "I know Natsu is trained. Training doesn't always prevent bad things from happening. And him not knowing is exactly why I was so worried. What would you have done?!"

Michelle was silent.

Lucy nodded despite Michelle not being able to see it. "Exactly. Look, I have to go. I need too talk to Natsu about some things. I'll talk to you later."

" _Lucy wa-_ "

Lucy cut her off by hanging up. She sighed and walked over to Natsu and Gray. Both men turned to her, Natsu's brow furrowing in concern when he noticed her obvious frustration.

"Everything okay?"

Lucy nodded. "Just got a lecture from my little sister. How embarrassing is that?"

Natsu groaned in understanding. "I feel you. You'll get to see Wendy freak out tomorrow."

Lucy tilted her head in confusion. "Why?"

"Don't you remember? My mom demanded that I bring you to dinner tomorrow. If I show up without you, I'll get skinned alive. You have to come."

Gray laughed. "Dinner with the Dragneels. Good luck, Lucy."

* * *

Michelle sighed as she threw herself on the couch next to her fiance. Josh looked at her with concern.

"Is everything alright, babe?"

Michelle curled into his side. "I'm worried about Lucy. I mean, for God's sake, she ran into a building where guns were being fired. She could have died!"

Josh wrapped his arm around her. "I know that, sweetheart. But she didn't. She's okay."

Michelle looked up at him. "But what if she does it again? And what if she's not so lucky next time?"

Josh sighed. "I'm worried too, Michelle. But Lucy is her own person. And you know that the more you tell her not to do something, the more likely she is to do it."

Michelle whined and buried her face into his chest. "I know! But..."

"Michelle, you just need to trust her. She'll be alright. Besides, I doubt hat detective would let her get hurt if he can stop it."

Michelle sighed and looked back up at him. "You're right. Thank you."

Josh gave her a grin and leaned down to kiss her. Before their lips made contact, however, his phone began to ring. Josh sighed and pulled it out of his pocket, frowning when he saw who was calling.

"Who is it, honey?"

"It's your dad."


	18. Chapter 18

Michelle gave Josh an inquisitive look. He shrugged his shoulders at her and then answered the call.

"Hello, Jude."

" _Joshua. I'm glad you picked up. I have a proposition for you._ "

"Okay."

" _I need to know what my daughter knows about the warehouses on the docks._ "

Josh furrowed his brow. "Why?"

" _I'm afraid that's my business. Are you going to tell me? I can give you quite a hefty sum_."

Josh frowned. "Why can't you ask Lucy herself?"

Jude chuckled. " _I don't know if you are aware, Joshua, but my oldest is not very fond of me._ "

"I know. Listen, even if I did know, I wouldn't tell you. It's probably part of an ongoing investigation. You should really try talking to Lucy."

" _I don't like your tone, Joshua._ "

Josh shrugged. "Tough."

Jude sighed. " _You know, I was really hoping it wouldn't come to this._ "

"Come to what?"

" _Oh nothing. I would just hate for anything to happen to your mother. She's sick, isn't she?_ "

Josh's blood ran cold and his eyes widened in shock. "What the hell are you saying?"

" _I need information. And you're going to give it. Meet me at the docks tomorrow night. And come alone,_ " Jude said, his voice as hard and cold as steel. He hung up.

Josh lowered his phone to his lap and stared at it. Lucy had told him about her dad, just in case Jude ever tried anything, but Josh never thought the man actually would.

"Honey? Is everything okay?" Michelle asked, leaning away from Josh to get a better look at him.

"Huh? Oh, yes. Everything's fine. Your father just wants to meet with me about stuff tomorrow."

Understanding dawned in Michelle's eyes and she gave him a smile. "Probably to give you an overprotective dad speech, huh?"

Josh chuckled, forcing a smile onto his face. "Yeah. Something like that."

* * *

When Lucy walked into the station the next morning, she was surprised when she didn't see Natsu at his desk. She made her way over and set his coffee down, hopping up to sit next to his files.

"Morning, Gray."

Gray looked up from his own stack of papers and gave her a smile.

"Hey Lucy."

"Where's Natsu?"

Gray chuckled. "Your best friend stopped by. She's giving him an earful."

Lucy furrowed her brow. "Really? Where are they?"

Gray jerked his head in the direction of the interrogation rooms.

Lucy jumped down from Natsu's desk and started that way. When she reached the beginning of the hallway, she saw a very angry Levy yelling at a very irritated Natsu. Levy was jamming her finger in the detectives chest and Natsu was scowling at her.

"Hey! You two! Come here!" Lucy yelled.

The two jumped and looked at Lucy. Natsu smiled in relief. Levy, however, still looked angry.

"Good! I have some things to say to you, too!" Levy shouted back. She began marching down the hall towards her best friend. When she got to Lucy, she stuck her finger up and opened her mouth. Lucy cut her off before she could even begin.

"If this is about the warehouse yesterday, I don't want to hear it. It happened, I'm fine, that's that."

Levy looked shocked. She had never seen Lucy so irritated, except when her dad was involved.

"Lucy, you could have been seriously hurt," Levy argued.

"But I wasn't. Michelle already lectured me. I don't need one from you too."

Levy pouted. "I'm still angry at you. And Natsu."

Lucy raised a brow. "Why are you mad at Natsu? He didn't do anything wrong. He told me not to go inside. He even made me wait with the car."

"That's what I was trying to explain to her, but she was too angry to stop shouting and listen," Natsu complained as he walked up.

Levy chuckled sheepishly. "Well..."

Lucy sighed. "Look, I know you have good intentions. But you need to trust that I know what I'm doing. Please."

Levy frowned and looked at Lucy, seeing the determination in her eyes. Then she sighed. "Okay."

Lucy smiled brilliantly. "Great. Natsu, I brought you a cup of coffee."

Natsu's face lit up and he ran past the girls to his desk. Lucy grabbed Levy's hand and dragged her after him. When they reached him, he was putting his cup down and wiping his lips with the back of his hand.

"Hey Natsu, what are we doing today?"

Natsu groaned. "The most boring thing ever."

Lucy tilted her head. "And what's that?"

Natsu picked up the top file on his stack. "Paperwork."

* * *

"Jude Heartfilia! To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Jude Heartfilia strolled into the dark room like he owned it, eyeing the man behind the desk with distaste.

"Jose Porla. I would hardly call this meeting a pleasure."

The man in the chair chuckled, adjusting his purple suit jacket. His dark red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and lips were set in an arrogant smirk.

"Indeed. It's just business, yes?"

Jude grunted his agreement and settled himself into a leather chair in front of Jose's desk.

"I would like to hire one of your members."

Jose leaned forward, putting his elbows on the desk and pressing his fingertips together.

"Just one?"

"That's correct. I need information from someone who is unwilling to give it."

Jose hummed. "I see. So you would like Sol, then. He has always been rather skilled with extracting secrets."

Jude nodded. "Yes. Now, to discuss pay-"

Jose cut him off. "There is only one problem, Mr. Heartfilia."

Jude frowned. He despised being interrupted as much as he despised problems.

"And what would that be?"

Jose leaned back into his chair and folded his hands in his lap. "Sol is a part of a team. If you require his services, you must hire his partners as well."

"Fine. How much?"

"I believe one hundred thousand should cover it."

It was obvious that Jose did not expect Jude to agree. The normal charge for this team was half that price.

"Done. I need at the docks tonights. Make it happen."

Jose's mouth dropped open in shock. He said nothing as he watched Jude leave the room. When the door slammed shut behind his new client, Jose smiled wickedly.

"Very well, Mr. Heartfilia. We will be there."

* * *

 **AN: I know that Jude isn't this much of a d-bag, but it's so much fun to write him as the antagonist. Keep up the amazing reviews!**


	19. Chapter 19

"So, Luce, when do you want me to pick you up tonight?" Natsu asked, looking up from the report he was filling out. Lucy was sitting in a chair next to his desk, writing in a notebook. He assumed she was working on ideas for her book. Levy had left when they started working.

Lucy looked up at him inquisitively. "Pick me up? For what?"

Natsu rolled his eyes. "You forgot again? My mom wants you over for dinner."

Lucy's eyes widened. " were serious about that?"

Natsu looked at her like she had a bird on her head. "I told you she would kill me if I didn't bring you over. Besides, you told me when we were at Laki's that you would come over some time."

Lucy opened and closed her mouth a few times. She might have agreed but she hadn't thought she would ever actually meet Natsu's family. What if they didn't like her?

"Um. Okay. What time does dinner start and where do your parents live?"

Natsu turned back to his report. "We usually start at seven. They live, like, ten minutes from here."

Lucy nodded, doing a few calculations in her head. It was 4:30 now, and she wanted at least an hour to get ready, not including time for a shower.

"Do you want to get there before dinner starts?"

Natsu glanced up at her. "I think we should get there around 6:30, so you can introduce yourself and stuff."

Lucy nodded in agreement and stood up. "Okay. Pick me up at 6, then. I'm gonna go get ready."

Before Natsu questioned her about needing so long to prepare, she was gone. Instead he turned to his partner, who only shook his head and shrugged.

"Women, man. Don't even try to understand."

* * *

Josh pulled his car to the curb one building away from the ruins of the warehouse that burned down. Why the docks, of all places to meet? Couldn't he have gone to Jude's office or something?

He climbed out of his car and looked around for Michelle's father. Not seeing him, Josh began to walk down the sidewalk. As he passed the ruins, he thought of Lucy. Why was Jude so interested in what she knew? And why couldn't Jude ask her directly?

Josh was pulled out of his thoughts by a man tapping his shoulder. Josh turned to look and was surprised by the sheer size of the man before him. He was wearing a green suit, a green fedora, and, weirdly, a blindfold around his eyes.

"Can I help you with something?"

The strange man sniffled as though he were about to cry. "Are you Joshua?"

Josh frowned. "Did Jude send you?"

At this, the man did burst into tears. "It's just, so sad! You have to come with me!"

Josh put his hands up between him and the man and took a step back.

"Uh, no. I'm gonna stay right here. Jude can come to me."

"Non non non, monsieur. You will come with us."

Josh didn't even have time to turn around before he felt something hit his head and his vision went black.

* * *

It was 6:05 when Natsu knocked on Lucy's apartment door. He pulled his hand back down and stuffed it in the pocket of his black slacks. He was wearing a red dress shirt and had rolled the sleeves up to his elbows. He tapped his foot, waiting for the blonde to answer her door. When she finally did, his jaw dropped.

She looked amazing. Her sky blue dress was sleeveless and hugged her bust and waist before flaring out and ending just above her knees. A white ribbon was tied around her waist, complimenting her white sandals. She wasn't wearing very much makeup and her hair was down in curls. When she noticed that he was staring, she giggled and waved her hand in front of his face.

"Natsu? You okay?"

Natsu shook his head clear and looked her in the eye. "Yeah. Sorry. You look great."

Lucy smiled brightly at him. "Thank you. You don't look too bad, yourself."

Natsu chuckled and offered her his elbow. She linked her arm with his and he led her to his car.

During the drive, Lucy couldn't help but fidget her hands in her lap. Natsu glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and reached over to cover her hands with one of his.

"Relax."

Lucy released a breath she hadn't known she was holding.

"Sorry. Just a little nervous, I guess."

"Don't be. They'll love you, trust me. Plus, you already have brownie points with my mom for helping to save me at that warehouse."

Lucy laughed breathily.

They pulled into a driveway five minutes later. The Dragneel's lived in a brown two story house. The flower beds were well maintained and a short breezeway allowed access to a two car garage.

Natsu parked right in front of the garage door and climbed out of the car. Lucy found that she was too nervous to move. Despite Natsu's reassurances, Lucy couldn't help but be afraid that his family wouldn't like her. Her hands started fisting in the skirt of her dress. She was so preoccupied with her thoughts, she didn't even notice Natsu open her door. He crouched next to her and grabbed her hands. She looked over at him.

"Lucy, I promise you, you have nothing to be nervous about. My mother likes you, Wendy is in love with your books, and my dad...well, he doesn't know anything about you. But I know he'll love you."

Lucy maintained eye contact with Natsu through his entire speech and was slightly shocked by the wave of calm that rolled over her. Natsu looked so sure that she had nothing to worry about. She found herself nodding and allowed Natsu to pull her gently from the car. He kept a hold of her right hand and guided her up the porch steps to the front door. He pushed the button to ring the bell and gave her another calming smile.

The door was pulled open and the two came face to face with Grandine, who gave them a wide grin.

"Natsu! Lucy! How wonderful! Come in, come in!"

Natsu pulled Lucy in after him. Grandine closed the door and ushered them into the living room. Two people were already seated on the couch. The closest to Lucy was a girl with navy blue hair tied up in pigtails. She was wearing a pink sweater and black jeans. Next to her was a man with shocking red hair, spiked up on the top of his head. He had a beard to match. His clothes were very similar to Natsu's, the only difference being that this man's shirt was white.

"Natsu!" the girl squealed, jumping up from the couch to give her older brother a hug.

Natsu laughed as he hugged her back. "Hey Wen!"

She pulled away and turned to give Lucy a bright smile.

"Hi! I'm Wendy, Natsu's little sister."

Lucy smiled back, feeling the last of her nerves eb away. "Hi Wendy. I'm Lucy."

Wendy giggled and nodded. "I know. Natsu talks about you a lot."

Lucy blushed red. Wendy giggled again, ducking to avoid Natsu swipe at her.

"Natsu, be nice to your sister. She's only telling the truth," said the man on the couch as he stood up and made his way over.

Natsu crossed his arms and pouted. "Don't care."

The man chuckled and turned his attention to Lucy. "Hello, Miss Heartfilia. I'm Igneel, this idiot's father."

Lucy smiled again, ignoring Natsu's shout of protest as she shook Igneel's hand.

"Please, call me Lucy."

Igneel nodded. "I hear from my wife that you saved my boy's life."

Lucy turned pink. "O-oh. N-No, not really. I just, stopped the bleeding, that's all."

Wendy tilted her head cutely. "Yeah, that's what we mean. You stopped him from bleeding out. Thank you."

Lucy waved their gratitude away. "It was nothing. He would have done the same for me."

Igneel and Wendy shared a mischievous look but said nothing. Before Lucy could suggest that they sit and talk, Natsu grabbed her hand gain and began leading her out of the room.

"Come on, Luce. I wanna show you something."

He lead her to the stairs and started up.

"Keep it PG up there!" Igneel yelled after them.

Lucy started sputtering and Natsu growled, his face turning red.

"Shut up, Dad!"

The two left Igneel's bellowing laughter behind as they climbed to the second floor. Natsu led her to a room with a piece of paper taped to the door, the words 'Natsu's Room' written on it in red crayon and surrounded by a child's drawings of dragons.

Natsu pushed the door open and gestured for Lucy to enter. When she did, she was surprised by how tidy everything was. She had seen how disorganized his desk was and assumed his room would be the same.

"My mom cleans it up after I stay here. I've got my own place in town, but I stay over every now and then."

Lucy nodded in understanding and walked further into the room. Upon seeing a cork board of pictures, she made her way over. She smiled as she saw many of them contained a younger Natsu. Him in high school, middle school, even some of him as a toddler. Lucy was surprised to see a boy she didn't recognize in nearly every one. He had short black hair and eyes so dark, they looked black as well. He never smiled very wide, just enough that you could see he was happy.

Lucy felt Natsu come to a stop next to her. His hand came up and brushed over a picture of him and other boy.

"That's my brother, Zeref."

Lucy's mouth dropped open in a circle. She was shocked not only by the news, but by the way in which Natsu had said the boy's name. So quiet and solemn.

"I didn't know you had a brother."

Natsu smiled gently, his eyes still focused on the pictures.

"I don't talk about him very often. But," he turned to her and Lucy was surprised at the level of determination in his eyes. "I'd like to tell you a story, if that's okay."

Lucy nodded. "Of course."

Natsu grabbed one of the pictures and pulled it from the board. Then he led Lucy to his bed and sat down on the edge. She followed suit. Natsu kept his eyes on the picture. It was one of him and Zeref when they were in high school.

Natsu sucked in a deep breath and looked up at her. "Zeref was two years older than me. Before we moved to this house, we used to live in one closer to the high school. Close enough that we could walk. One day, when I was a sophomore and Zeref was a senior, we took a shortcut home. Instead of walking on the main road, we cut through an alley. Wendy was having birthday party even though her birthday wasn't for a few days and we wanted to get home sooner. Halfway through the alley, this guy came out of nowhere. He demanded that we hand over our wallets and waved a gun around to scare us."

Lucy gasped, her hands coming up to cover her mouth. Natsu eye's fell back to the picture.

"Zeref was always so calm about stuff. He told the guy we would cooperate and went to pull his wallet out of his back pocket. The guy panicked and thought Zeref was going for a weapon or something. He shot him. He shot my brother, right in front of me. The guy was so shocked by what he'd done that he dropped the gun and took off. I dropped next to Zeref and tried to help but there was nothing I could do. His last words-" Natsu choked a little, tears building in his eyes. "His last words were 'Live, Natsu. Live."

Lucy slowly lowered her hands, tears streaming down her face.

"His death is why I joined the police academy when I graduated. Why I fight everyday to put the bad people behind bars so innocent people are safe."

Natsu looked up at her again. His eyes widened when he saw her tears. Then his face softened into a gentle smile.

"Don't cry, Luce. You'll ruin your makeup."

Lucy let out a choked laugh and threw herself at him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and buried her face in his neck.

"Idiot."

Natsu chuckled at her, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. When they pulled away, Natsu put his hands on her cheeks and wiped her tears away with his thumbs.

"Are you okay?"

Lucy laughed again. "Me? What about you?"

Natsu smiled and nodded, his hands never leaving her face. "I feel great. I've been wanting to tell you for a while, actually."

Lucy furrowed her brow in confusion. "Why?"

Natsu shook his head and shrugged. "I don't know. I normally hate telling people. I've only told Gray, Erza, and Gramps. But, for some reason, I wanted you to know."

Lucy smiled. "You're so strong, Natsu."

Now it was Natsu's turn to be confused. "What?"

"You've carried this with you for so long, letting it guide you and teach you. You're amazing."

Natsu grinned. "So you've said."

Lucy shook her head. "I mean it. You're the most amazing person I've ever met. You're so dedicated and determined. You constantly put your life at risk to save others. You are kind and smart and handsome and-"

She was cut off when a pair of warm lips pressed against her own. She froze in shock and then relaxed into the kiss, leaning in closer to Natsu. He tilted his head and slid a hand to her waist to pull her closer. Lucy sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck once again.

Natsu pulled away a few seconds later and grinned at her. "You talk a lot."

Lucy's mouth dropped open and she pulled back to smack him on the shoulder. Unfortunately, she had forgotten that he was injured and smacked the shoulder that was currently stitched up. Natsu let out a gasp of pain and removed his hand from her face to grasp his shoulder. Lucy put her hands against her mouth.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

Natsu grimaced a little and then chuckled. "Jeez. Remind me never to tease you again."

Lucy laughed sheepishly. Natsu looked her in the eye, his grimace fading into a soft smile.

"By the way, you're pretty amazing, too."

Lucy turned a pretty pink and looked down at her lap.

"Natsu! Lucy! Dinner is ready!" Grandine yelled up the stairs.

"Coming!" Natsu yelled back. He stood from his spot on the bed and offered Lucy his hand. When she took it, he pulled her up and into his arms.

She gasped and looked up at him. He smiled at her again.

"Would you want to go on a date with me sometime?"

Lucy stared a little longer and then her face broke into the most brilliant and beautiful smile Natsu had ever seen.

"I would love to!"

"Great! Now, let's go eat before my mom sends my dad to come get us."

Lucy nodded and followed Natsu out of his room and back down the stairs. They entered the dining room and their noses were assaulted by the delicious smells wafting from the food on the table. Natsu's family had taken their seats already. Natsu and Lucy sat down.

"Alright, everyone! Dig in!" Grandine prompted.

The boys took this quite literally as they flew at the food. The girls waited for them to fill their plates before taking their own servings.

"Oh, this alfredo is amazing!" Lucy complimented, bringing another forkful to her mouth.

Wendy gave her a bright smile. "Thanks!"

"So, Lucy, you're a writer, aren't you?" Igneel questioned.

Lucy nodded and swallowed her food. "Yes. I write crime novels, which is why I'm shadowing Natsu for the time being."

"Dad, I've told you about her before. She's my favorite author," Wendy said, looking at her father.

"Aw, Wendy. That's so sweet." Lucy put her hand on her heart and smiled at the girl across the table.

"Do you have any siblings, Lucy?" Grandine asked.

Lucy turned to the woman and nodded. "Yes. I have a little sister, Michelle. And she's getting married soon, so I'll have a brother-in-law, too."

Lucy's phone chose that exact moment to start ringing. Lucy jumped a little and then gave a sheepish laugh to the rest of the table.

"Sorry."

She pulled her phone out of the purse she had slung over the back of her chair. She scrunched her brow.

"Speak of the devil," she muttered, looking back p at the Dragneel's. "Excuse me a minute, I need to take this."

Lucy stood from her chair and walked into the hallway, stopping just outside the dining room.

"Michelle?"

" _Lucy! Something's wrong! Josh, he had a meeting with Dad and he's been gone for almost three hours and he won't pick up his phone and I'm so worried and-_ "

"Whoa, Michelle, slow down. What's wrong with Josh?"

" _I don't know where he is! I called Dad's personal assistant and she said that Dad left work early and that Josh hasn't been there._ "

"Okay. Stay calm. I'll be right there."

Lucy hung up and walked back to the dining room.

"Sorry, everyone. It seems I'll have to head out a little sooner than I thought."

Natsu gave her a concerned look. "Everything okay?"

"I'm not sure. Can you give me a ride?"

Natsu stood up. "Of course."

* * *

 **AN: This chapter is a bit longer than the others, but I feel like it's worth it. Almost to twenty chapters! Keep up the reviews! See you later!**


	20. Chapter 20

"Alright," Lucy started as she made herself comfortable on her sister's couch. "Start from the beginning."

Natsu had dropped her off and then Lucy had insisted that he go back to his family. He had proteste at first, wanting to help, but eventually caved.

"Okay. Um, he got a call, yesterday. From Dad. It looked like it really shook him and he said your name a few times. Dad wanted to know something, I think. But, when Josh hung up, he told me that Dad wanted to meet about wedding plans."

Lucy put her hand to her chin in thought. "That doesn't make much sense. Why would I be mentioned if it was about your wedding? And why would Father ask about me anyway?"

Michelle shook her head, her eyes displaying her desperation. "I don't know. And why wouldn't they meet at the office?"

Lucy looked up at her sister. "There was something I wanted to ask you about. It may help us find Josh."

Michelle nodded vigorously. "Anything."

"There's a warehouse on the docks in Dad's name. Do you know anything about that?"

Michelle furrowed her brow. "No. Why would he need one down there? We don't ship things by boat. Dad keeps all of our business in the country to stimulate the economy."

"That's what I thought. So why would he have it?" Lucy asked.

"Wait, Lucy, you don't think Dad is doing anything illegal, do you? Come on, that would be ridiculous."

Lucy shook her head. "Not as ridiculous as you might think. Do you remember Jonathan Parks?"

Michelle nodded. "You and Natsu arrested him for murder."

"Not just murder. Money laundering. And he was very close business partners with Father. Not only that, but the warehouse next to Father's on the docks turned out to be the hideout of a gang wanted for murder. And the Archbishop of Zentopia said he had had business dealings with Father. Every case that I've helped with so far had been somehow connected with Jude Heartfilia."

Michelle watched, completely shocked, as Lucy stood from the couch and began pacing.

"Lucy, this is our father you're talking about!"

Lucy stopped and looked at Michelle. "Even our father can make mistakes. Trust me."

Lucy snatched her purse off of the couch and marched to the door. Michelle stood and raced after her, putting her hand on the door to stop it from opening.

"Where are you going? What about Josh?"

Lucy put a hand on Michelle's shoulder. "I have a hunch. You stay here. If you don't hear from me in thirty minutes, call Natsu. Tell him what we talked about."

"Lucy, you're scaring me!"

Lucy sighed. "I'm sorry. I need to go. Do what I told you. I'm borrowing your car."

With that, Lucy grabbed Michelle's keys from their hook and took off down the hall, ignoring Michelle's call of her name.

She sped to the docks as quickly as she could, hoping beyond hope that she was wrong and her father wasn't the dirty criminal she thought he might be. Her stomach plummeted when she saw Josh's car parked on the curb.

She parked behind him and flew out of Michelle's car. She ran down the sidewalk until she could see her father's warehouse. Then, she slowed down and found a place to hide so that she could obverse the building. Immediately, she noticed the two men standing on either side of the door. She could see that they were holding something in their hands, but it was too dark for her to see what. Before she could sneak a little closer, she was scared by her phone beginning to ring. It was Natsu.

"Damn it. Natsu!"

" _Lucy! Why the hell did I just get a call from your sister, saying that you ran off to investigate something on your own?!_ "

"Natsu, shh!" Lucy looked up at the guards, praying that they hadn't heard anything. They had. Both men were slowly making their way across the street. When they passed a lamp post, Lucy was finally able to see what they were holding. Guns. Big ones.

" _Don't tell me to shh. Where are you?_ "

Lucy heard a car door slamming from Natsu's side of the phone. She looked back at the men. They were halfway across the street now. There was nowhere for her to run and no guarantee that if she did, they wouldn't shoot her. She turned her back to the men and began whispering frantically into the phone.

"Natsu, you need to hurry. My father's warehouse, something isn't right. They have guns. Natsu you hav-"

The men grabbed her and Lucy screamed, dropping her phone.

* * *

Natsu normally enjoyed dinner with his family. But, after dropping Lucy off at her sister's, he felt strangely anxious.

"Natsu, are you alright? You've barely touched your food since you got back," Grandine asked, concern shining in her eyes.

Natsu looked up at his mother. "I'm fine. Just, a little worried about Lucy, I guess."

Igneel was about to make some snarky comment before Natsu's phone began to ring. When the detective looked at it, it wasn't a number he had saved. He decided to answer it anyway.

"Hello?"

" _Is this Detective Natsu Dragneel?_ " came a panicked voice from the other line.

Natsu frowned. "Yes. Who is this?"

" _This is Michelle Heartfilia."_

Now Natsu was even more confused. "Michelle? Why are you calling?"

" _It's Lucy._ "

Natsu's blood ran cold. "Lucy? What happened? Is she okay?"

" _I-I don't know. She just took off. She said she had a hunch and to call you if I didn't hear from her in thirty minutes but I couldn't wait that long. Something isn't right._ "

Natsu stood from his chair, ignoring his family's concerned looks. "Michelle, stay where you are. I'm going to call her and see what she's doing."

He hung up and looked at his family. "I have to go."

He turned and walked to the front door throwing it open as he dialed Lucy's number. She answered almost immediately.

" _Damn it. Natsu!_ "

"Lucy! Why the hell did I just get a call from your sister, saying that you ran off to investigate something on your own?!" he shouted, marching out to his car.

" _Natsu, shh!_ " She sounded desperate.

"Don't tell me to shh! Where are you?" Natsu climbed into his car, slamming the door.

Lucy took a few seconds to respond and when she did, it was in a rushed whisper.

" _Natsu, you need to hurry. My father's warehouse, something isn't right. They have guns. Natsu you hav-_ "

She screamed.

"Lucy!" Natsu shouted. "Lucy, what's going on?! Answer me!"

Natsu heard a crunch and then the line went dead. He slammed his hand on his steering wheel and peeled out of his parent's driveway. While he sped down the road, he called Gray.

" _Flame Brain, what the he-_ "

Natsu cut him off. "Gray! I need you to send everyone you can to Jude Heartfilia's warehouse on the docks!"

" _What? Why? What's going on?_ " Gray sounded startled, whether by Natsu's tone or the fact that his partner had not used some insulting nickname.

"Lucy is in trouble! Just do it!"

" _Alright, alright! Where are you?_ "

"I'm on my way there now."

" _What?! Natsu, if something is wrong, you can't go in there alone!_ "

"Gray, Lucy might not have time for me to wait!" Even Natsu could tell that he sounded slightly hysterical.

Gray was silent for a moment. " _Fine. Just be careful, dumbass._ "

Natsu hung up and pushed harder on the gas.


	21. Chapter 21

Lucy watched as one of the men who had grabbed her stomped on her phone, breaking it into tiny pieces. As they began to drag her towards her father's warehouse, she started struggling. She kicked and screamed, but the men were oos trong. They dragged her through the door and into the dimly lit building.

"Hey boss! We caught this one watchin' the place!" one of the men shouted.

Lucy looked around, trying to make a mental map of her surroundings in case she was able to escape. She froze when a voice answered the shout.

"Ah. Lucy. How interesting."

The men carried her to a chair in the middle of the room under one of the two lights and threw her into it. She was too shocked by the voice she had heard to fight as they tied her wrists and ankles to the chair. A man walked out of the shadows. A man she recognized instantly.

"Jude."

Jude tsked. "Can't you call me Father?"

Lucy snarled. "You lost that right long ago."

Jude sighed. "Ever the rebel. You know, I wasn't planning on having this talk with you until tomorrow at the earliest."

"Talk? When have you ever wanted to talk?" Lucy scoffed.

"Oh, daughter. Why must you be so insufferable? I only need information."

"Where's Josh? What did you do to him?" Lucy demanded.

Jude looked surprised. "What makes you think I did anything to dear Joshua?"

"Don't play games with me! His car his outside! He came here to meet with you and hasn't been heard from since."

Jude sighed again. "I see. I assume Michelle called you, then."

Lucy struggled against her bonds. "You're damn right she called me! What did you do to him?!"

Jude turned to one of the men who had captured Lucy. "Bring Joshua in."

The man nodded and disappeared into the shadows. Lucy heard a door creak open and a groan. When the man re-appeared, he threw something at Lucy's feet. Lucy looked down and gasped, renewing her struggle against the ropes.

"Josh! Oh my god, Josh!"

His face was bloody and bruised. His clothes were torn and Lucy could see that one of his legs was bent at an odd angle.

"I told him to meet me because I needed information. Unfortunately, he did not have any. However, I believe you might, Lucy dear," Jude said as though it justified what he had done.

Lucy yelled in frustration. "I'm not telling you anything!"

"That's what Joshua said. Granted, he had nothing to tell."

"It was you, wasn't it?" Lucy growled.

Jude looked at her and raised a brow. "What was me?"

"You hired the Oracion Seis to attack Zentopia! You got four people killed!"

Jude waved his hand in the air, dismissing the matter. "Yes, yes."

"Why?"

Jude chuckled. "My dear, this is not a movie. I'm not going to tell you the details of my plans. I am not stupid."

Lucy snorted. "Could've fooled me."

Jude scowled. "Sol!"

A wiry man in a brown suit stepped forward. His green hair stood up in spike and he was wearing a monocle. He swayed from side to side as though he were dizzy.

"Oui, monsieur?"

Jude glared at his daughter. "This is Sol, Lucy. He is a member of Phantom Lord. And he is especially gifted at extracting information from unwilling subjects. Now, what do the police know about this warehouse?"

Lucy eyed the newcomer with caution. She could practically smell the crazy rolling off of him.

"Mademoiselle, this will be much less, how you say, painful, if you tell us now."

Lucy shook her head. "No. I will not betray Natsu like that."

Sol looked to Jude for instruction. Jude shrugged and waved for him to continue. Sol grinned wildly and pulled a knife from his belt. Lunging, he plunged the blade down into Lucy's thigh.

Lucy let out a scream at the pain that assaulted her leg. Sol ripped the knife back out and Lucy let out a strangled gasp.

"Tell me what I want to know, Lucy," Jude pushed, clasping his hands behind his back.

Lucy's eyes swam with tears and she shook her head. "Never."

Sol dropped the knife and grabbed her arm. He straightened her elbow and began pushing up. Lucy felt the strain being put on her bones and tendons. She tried to pull her arm away but only succeeded in making it worse.

"Lucy, this doesn't have to get any worse."

She only shook her head again, biting her lip. Sol shrugged and jerked her arm up. Lucy heard a crack and then she screamed again. Her vision blurred and she fell back against the chair, panting.

"Tell me, Lucy. What does the police know?"

Lucy couldn't answer if she wanted to. Her vision was coming in and out of focus and her body throbbed with pain.

The sound of squealing tires captured everyone's attention and all eyes turned to the door. More squealing and the sound of sirens followed by the slam of car doors. Finally, it dawned on the occupants of the warehouse that the police were just outside. Seconds later, the door burst open and a SWAT team charged through. Two detectives and half of the Magnolian police force came soon after.

Jude could only gape as his men were taken down one by one. What was happening? How had they known? He quickly came to the conclusion that his daughter, his useless daughter, must have called someone before being caught. A gowl tore through Jude's throat and he whipped around to face Lucy.

"You bitch!" he screamed, pulling a pistol from his waistband. He pointed it at Lucy and squeezed the trigger. A bang resounded through the building.

Jude watched as his arm fell to his side limply, blood trailing to his fingers. He looked to his daughter and saw no bullet wound. She was alive. Jude turned around and met the cold, angry eyes on a pink haired detective just before he was tackled to the ground by a SWAT member.

Natsu's raised arm dropped to his side as he watched Jude get handcuffed. He turned his attention to the chair in the middle of the room and his breath caught in his throat.

"Lucy!" he yelled, his gun falling from his hand as he made a mad dash for the blonde. When he reached her, he fell to his knees in front of her.

Lucy faintly felt warm hands on her face. She tried to focus on the man shouting her name, but she couldn't. She only caught a glimpse of pink hair before her vision failed her and everything faded to black.


	22. Chapter 22

The first thing Lucy became aware of was the beeping. She attempted to open her eyes, only to find her lids too heavy. She couldn't move her arms either. Lucy continued trying to lift her eyelids and was pleased when she finally succeeded. Unfortunately, she hadn't counted on the blinding white light and immediately closed her eyes. She let out a groan and tried again, this time slower. When her eyes were fully open, she took in her surrounds.

Everything was white. The bed she was laying on, the walls, the ceiling, even the machines she was hooked up to. The only color in the room was the splotch of pink beside her left hand. Upon closer inspection, she saw that this splotch was, in fact, a head of hair, resting on a pair of tanned arms.

"Na-" she croaked. Her throat was too dry to get the full name out.

Lucy turned to look at the door as it was pushed open. A women with white hair to her waist and wearing pink scrubs entered the room, her gaze fixed on the clipboard in her hand.

Lucy attempted to speak again, letting out another croak. The woman's head jerked up and a beautiful smile broke out on her face.

"Oh! You're awake."

Lucy nodded weakly and croaked yet again.

The woman's eyes widened. "Would you like some water?"

Lucy nodded. The woman walked to a table that was pushed up against a wall and poured a glass of water from a pitcher that sat there. She carried the glass over o Lucy and helped the blonde take small sips. When the water was gone, the woman set the glass on the table next to Lucy's bed and turned back to Lucy.

"My name is Mirajane. You can call me Mira. I'm your nurse. Are you in any pain?"

Lucy shook her head. "Not really," she was able to whisper.

Mira smiled. "Good. Now, you have a wound on your right leg from a knife and your right arm has been broken. So no moving those limbs, got it?"

Lucy nodded and gave Mira a small smile. "Yes, ma'am. How long have I been asleep?"

Mira looked up in thought. "Let's see. You were brought in around eight last night and it's seven in the morning now. So about eleven hours. You lost a significant amount of blood from the wound on your leg."

As Lucy digested this information, she turned back to Natsu. From the rise and fall of his shoulders, Lucy could tell that he was sleeping.

"He hasn't left, you know. Not once since they brought you in."

Lucy turned back to her nurse and saw a soft smile on the woman's face. Then she looked back at Natsu. She found the strength to lift her left hand and placed it on the detective's head. The man shifted and murmured. He slowly lifted his head and turned it to look at Lucy, his eyes just barely open.

"Luce?" he mumbled.

Lucy gave him a smile. "Good morning, sleepy head."

Realization dawned in Natsu's eyes and they flew open. "Lucy!"

Natsu shot up in the chair he had pulled up and grabbed Lucy's hand. He frowned at the blonde.

"Don't you ever do that to me again!"

Lucy stared at him, shocked by his anger. "Natsu..."

"No! Next time you have a hunch, you call me! You don't go alone!" Natsu closed his eyes, trying to keep his tears from falling.

"Natsu, I'm sorry. I..."

"Do you have any idea how worried I was? Going into that warehouse to see you bleeding?" Natsu's voice cracked.

Lucy lifted her hand out of his hold and pressed it against his cheek. He leaned into her touch and finally looked her in the eye. She was giving him a soft smile.

"I promise I'll never do it again. I'm so sorry."

Natsu placed his hand over hers and turned his head to press a kiss to her palm.

"We're a team, Luce."

Lucy nodded. Natsu leaned forward and pressed another kiss to her forehead. Lucy closed her eyes. Natsu sat back down and placed her hand on the bed, keeping his hold on it and rubbing his thumb over the back in small circles.

"Ugh. You two are so sickeningly adorable, I think I'm gonna throw up."

Lucy and Natsu snapped their eyes to the door where they took in the sight of Gray, his hands in his pockets and a smirk on his face. Mira had let herself out when Natsu had awoken.

"Shut up, Ice Princess. Nobody asked you for your opinion," Natsu shot back.

Lucy giggled and gave Gray a smile. "Hello, Gray."

He gave her a gin. "Good to see you up. How you feeling?"

"Better." Lucy's eyes widened. "Oh my god, Josh! Is he okay?!"

Natsu turned back to Lucy and pushed her gently back into her pillow when she tried to sit up.

"Whoa. He's fine. A little worse for wear, but fine. I'm pretty sure your sister is with him down the hall."

Lucy sagged into the bed with relief. "Thank God. What about my father? Did you get him?"

At this, Natsu and Gray gave her identical grin, each full of anger and satisfaction.

"You bet your ass we got him. Natsu even shot him in the shoulder," Gray answered.

"Son of a bitch deserved it," Natsu mumbled.

Lucy laughed. "What are the charges?"

"Attempted murder, kidnapping, solicitation of murder, distribution of illegal weaponry, distribution of illegal drugs, smuggling. When we tear his company records apart, we'll probably find more," Gray listed, ticking them off on his fingers.

Lucy furrowed her brow. "Attempted murder? Who did he try to kill?"

Both men gave her a blank stare. Natsu tightened his hold on her hand.

"You don't remember?"

Lucy shook her head. "Everything after Sol breaking my arm is blurry."

Natsu winced and gave her hand another squeeze. "Luce, Jude tried to kill _you_. He had a gun and he pointed it at you. That's why I shot him."

Lucy froze, her eyes wide and her mouth open. "M-me?"

Natsu nodded, never breaking eye contact with her.

Lucy gulped. "I...I never thought he...would _do_ something like that."

"Lucy, he's going to spend the rest of his life in prison for what he did. Try not to dwell on it," Gray advised.

Lucy nodded shakily and gave the men a weak smile. "Okay."

At that moment, the door burst open and three people stumbled in. All of them had blue hair.

"Lucy!" they all yelled simultaneously.

Lucy jumped and looked at them. Levy, Grandine and Wendy stood before her, panting as though they had run a marathon. At once, they surged toward her bed.

"Lu! We heard you were awake! Are you okay?" Levy asked first.

"Levy, I'm alright."

"Alright? You were stabbed!" Grandine said.

Lucy turned to her. "I can't even feel it."

"I'm gladding you're feeling better, Lucy. We were all very worried," Wendy said quietly.

Lucy gave her a bright smile. "Thank you, Wendy."

"Alright, everyone. I'm sorry to cut this short, but I believe it is time to let Miss Lucy rest a bit."

Mira stood in the doorway, a bright but stern smile on her face.

Lucy's visitors began to file out, each give her a smile and a wave, wishing her better. All but Natsu. He stayed in his chair beside her bed. Lucy turned to him once everyone had left.

"Natsu, you should get some rest. Go home, eat something, take a shower."

Natsu shook his head. "Nope. I'm staying right here."

"Natsu," Lucy whined. "I'm not going anywhere. You can do all that and then come back. I'll still be here."

Natsu scrunched his forehead. "Promise?"

"Promise."


	23. Chapter 23

Three weeks later, Lucy was back on her feet, no limp. She was, however, forced to wear the cast on her arm for at least another three weeks.

As she walked into the station, she was greeted by officers she had never met before, each one telling her that they were glad she w feeling better. She responded to each one with a smile and a bright thank you. She made her way to the bullpen and was delighted to see Natsu and Gray typing on their computers.

Gray spotted her first. He paused his typing and stood halfway out of his chair.

"Lucy! Should you be walking around?"

Natsu whipped around in his chair at the sound of her name. He gave her a bright smile and stood up as well.

"Gray, I'm fine. The doctors said that my leg is completely healed," Lucy said, rolling her eyes.

Lucy finally made it to the two detective's desks and hopped up to sit on Natsu's. Said man gave her a playful scowl.

"I got work to do, you know."

Lucy giggled. "Please, when do you ever work with me around?"

Natsu gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and sat back down in his chair.

"You do make it very difficult."

Gray faked a loud gag and began walking away. "I will not be witness to this."

Lucy and Natsu turned to him and stuck their tongues out childishly. Lucy giggled again and turned back to Natsu.

"So. When are you taking me on that date?"

Natsu grinned. "Tonight if you want. There's this really nice diner in town. The whole theme is stars. I thought you'd like it."

Lucy nodded. "Sounds good to me. Pick me up at seven."

"Dragneel! Fullbuster! Lucy!" came a shout from the chief's office.

Natsu groaned and stood up. "Damn. I was hoping our little break would last longer."

Lucy shook her head and grabbed his hand. "Come on, let's go see what he wants."

Gray re-appeared from wherever he had run off to and the three quickly made their way into Makarov's office. The small man looked up as they walked in and gave a nod.

"Good. New case. College student was killed leaving campus. Get there yesterday."

Natsu grabbed the file and gave Lucy a grin.

"What d'ya say, Luce? Wanna catch another dumbass?"

Lucy smiled and shrugged. "Well, I do need more inspiration for my book."

Gray rolled his eyes and snatched the file from Natsu. "Honestly. Flirt somewhere else."

Natsu and Lucy smiled at each other and Lucy gestured to the door.

"Lead the way, Detective."

* * *

 **AN: I suck at keeping to schedules. Sorry about the wait. I decided to just post the rest of the story. School starts tomorrow and I won't have any free time. Thanks for sticking with this to the end! I really appreciate all the reviews and favorites and follows. They made me so happy. I wanted to leave this story kind of open ended in case I decide to write a sequel. Thanks again! I'll see you whenever I post again!**


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